Mass Effect: Romance Unfolding
by Daniel Sullivan
Summary: A romantic companion to Mass Effect 2 (Male Shepard/Miranda). Though it contains verbatim dialogue from ME2, it explores the inner thoughts and unseen conversations of Shepard and Miranda as they go from being uneasy allies to friends, and finally to lovers. This story follows the narrative of Mass Effect 2, but shows little of the action and battles (you know how those go down).
1. Chapter 1: Freedom's Progress

**Chapter 1: Freedom's Progress**

"The Illusive Man is very impressed with you," said Miranda, an undertone of doubt in her voice. "I'm eager to see if you can live up to his expectations on this mission."

"I never got a chance to say how much I appreciate what the Lazarus Project did for me," said Shepard, grateful to be alive, even if the circumstances were less than ideal. And Miranda was apparently the person to thank.

"I just hope it was worth it. A lot of people lost their lives on that station."

"With all that time you spent bringing me back," said Shepard, "you don't seem to like me very much."

"I have the utmost respect for your abilities, Shepard," replied the beautiful, but ice cold woman who stood before him. "It's your motivations that concern me. I believe in what Cerberus stands for. Only time will tell if you're going to be an asset, or a liability to our cause."

"Tell me about yourself, Miranda," said Shepard, changing the subject, desperately trying to get a bead on a woman who was attached to the mission that he was about to embark upon, and whom he might have to work with for the foreseeable future. Also, as the face of Cerberus, he wanted to know her as thoroughly as he could.

"Worried about my qualifications?" she asked tersely. "I can shoot a mech's head off from 100 meters away or just as easily crush it with my biotics; take your pick."

Shepard shook his head. He had been cordial, even friendly with the woman from the first moment they had met. He would be lying if he said that he did not find her attractive, but he had treated Jacob the same. He had been able to establish a bit of a rapport with Jacob; perhaps joining him in a firefight against the mechs had helped, but try as he might, he could not make any kind of connection with Miranda.

"It's obvious you're not interested in talking," he said in frustration.

"I'm not here to make friends," she retorted. "We've got an assignment. We can talk about it, or we can do it."

Miranda turned away, abruptly ending the conversation. Shepard walked away, shaking his head. _If she's going to act like this on the mission_, he thought, _she's going to be useless_.

Shepard engaged in some light conversation with Jacob before they boarded the shuttle to go to Freedom's Progress. Jacob seemed like a pleasant enough man, but also a bitter man; based on what Jacob said, he had served in the Alliance Navy and had seen the bureaucracy trump good sense and paperwork mire good men and women. Political correctness and career concerns outweighed military readiness, and nobody wanted to do anything for fear of ending up with egg on their face. Shepard had seen his share of this himself, and it was amplified greatly once the Council was involved. It was the very reason he had been forced to conspire with Captain Anderson and steal the Normandy in order to go to Ilos. He had saved the Council, Humanity, and the galaxy, but he had also deep sixed any prospect of advancement. Udina made sure of that. He was "promoted to captain" while simultaneously being busted down to lieutenant, which netted him his original rank of commander.

Jacob had been excited after Shepard and his team stopped Sovereign, but once Shepard was gone, the Alliance and the Council had backslidden on everything. Or so Jacob said; so far, the only thing he had to go on was the word of Miranda and Jacob, and Miranda was not very forthcoming at this juncture. As he pondered these things, Miranda spoke to him.

"We should be there shortly, Shepard. The Illusive Man put us under your command. Do you have any orders?"

It really grated on him the level of familiarity that Miranda had assumed with him. He held a rank, and even putting that aside, calling someone by their last name so casually was just rude; she could address him as 'sir' or just mister. He noticed that Jacob was picking up the habit as well, though when Jacob did it, it did not bother him quite as much. Orders … before orders could be given, information needed to be shared.

"What did you find at the other colonies?" he asked, as he felt that this was important to know.

"Nothing," said Jacob with frustration. "No signs of attack, no corpses, not even a trace of unusual genetic material to give us a clue. They just … disappeared. We've got no target to go after."

"What makes you think this investigation will turn up anything new?" He really hoped that Jacob or Miranda had a concrete answer. But it was not to be.

"At other colonies, official investigators got there first," replied the former Alliance soldier. "Sometimes looters or salvage teams as well. We're hoping to be the first ones there this time; maybe find clues before somebody else disturbs the scene."

_Great_, he thought; _the 'it'll be different because we'll be there first' attitude_. In fairness, getting there first did often make a crucial difference in an investigation, but still, they had nothing concrete, no clues whatsoever.

"Our first priority is to look for survivors," declared Shepard.

"That isn't likely, Commander," interjected Miranda. "All of the other colonies have been empty."

_Yeah, genius; tell me something we don't already know_, he thought, shaking his head.

"Still, it would be nice to find something other than a ghost town," said Jacob hopefully.

The mission, as it turned out, did bear fruit and offer clues; big ones. It seemed that a Quarian named Veetor had been visiting Freedom's Progress as part of his pilgrimage. And Tali Zorah Na Raya, now Tali Zorah Vas Neema, was there with a team to try to recover him. Tali agreed to work with Shepard, much to the distress of the rest of her team, who continually reminded her that Cerberus was an enemy.

Most of Tali's team died because they broke with the plan and were ambushed by mechs, mechs programed by Veetor to attack anything that moved. Shepard and his two teammates took out the mechs fairly easily, and then found Veetor. In questioning him, they learned that the Collectors were behind the attacks on the human colonies, employing seeker swarms; swarms of bug-like robots that immobilized the entire colony, allowing the Collectors to just collect the colonists at their leisure.

Miranda had moved to take Veetor back with them, but Tali objected, offering to forward Veetor's omni-tool data to Cerberus. Shepard's authority would now be tested. He decided that there was nothing that further they could get from Veetor that would be of any benefit to them, and he wanted to work with Tali, not against her.

"Veetor goes with Tali," Shepard declared.

To his surprise, Miranda demurred. In fact, she had been cooperative and very helpful throughout the mission. Though he hated to admit it, the two worked well in the field together. She reminded him a lot of Kaiden with regards to her abilities and skill set, though Kaiden was a soldier, not an operative. Still, he did find that she complemented him well in the field, much more so than Jacob, who was also like Kaiden in his own way, but not nearly as capable as the late lieutenant.

Upon returning, the Illusive Man and Shepard discussed the Collectors and the implications for humanity. Most importantly, both of them agreed that the Collectors were agents for the Reapers. But Shepard would need a team and a ship. The Illusive Man conveniently had dossiers at the ready. A little too conveniently, Shepard thought, but it was what it was.

"You'll need a ship," said the Illusive Man. Shepard heard footsteps behind him. "And I think we've found a pilot you can trust." He turned to see Joker standing there, wearing a Cerberus uniform.

"Hey Commander."

As amazed and overjoyed as he was to be reunited with an old friend, he was even more amazed at the revelation that Cerberus had built a new Normandy; the SR-2. Bigger, more powerful, and much faster than the old Normandy. But it was what was aboard the ship that deepened the plot; an AI named Edi, who was little more than an electronic spy from what Shepard could tell, and Doctor Chakwas, another old friend.

Like Jacob, both Joker and Chakwas told of how the Alliance was ignoring the Reaper threat, and how they had covered up all of the evidence and essentially told the public that the threat was no greater than the Geth. That had been going on before the old Normandy had been destroyed, but apparently, once they thought he was gone, they threw Shepard under the bus, saying that his warnings of greater danger were mistaken and/or delusional.

The rest of the crew was like any Alliance crew, and as it turned out, many were former Alliance sailors. His engineers, Gabby and Ken, had flown in the Battle of the Citadel. When Ken had been outspoken in his defense of Shepard's warnings to the point of insubordination, Cerberus had noticed and picked up the couple to serve under Shepard aboard the new Normandy. Both of them confirmed that the Alliance and the Council were doing nothing; they wanted to fight the real enemy, and only Cerberus seemed to be doing that. Interestingly, aside from Miranda and Jacob, the rest of the crew knew very little about the greater Cerberus organization. Shepard knew far more than he wished; killing Admiral Kohoku, Rachni and Thorian Creeper experimentation, and all manner of genetic experiments in order to create some kind of super soldier in what had been dubbed the Hades' Dogs project.

Whatever the circumstances though, Shepard knew that he had to fight the Reapers and the Collectors. He knew firsthand how recalcitrant the Alliance brass and the Council were. _No_, he thought, _I can't go to them. Looks like I'll be using Cerberus to get the job done_.


	2. Chapter 2: The Normandy: Reborn!

**Chapter 2: The Normandy Reborn**

Miranda had put on her cheerful face and was cooperative on the Freedom's Progress mission. Shepard seemed surprised that she never questioned any of his directives, not even when he ordered Veetor be allowed to go back with the Quarians. In fact, she could not help but notice that they worked quite well together, especially when the gunfire erupted. Though she had disagreed with Shepard's preoccupation with survivors twice now, she had to admit that she found it refreshing to see that he really did behave the way the way he had been portrayed in the vids and news reports.

Of course, this worried her too; could he make the sacrifices that would be needed in the fight against the Reapers? His willingness to give the Quarians what they wanted would have really bothered her if Tali had not been part of the team that took down Sovereign. And it was hard to fault his read on the situation when the Quarians actually forwarded Veetor's omni-tool data to Cerberus.

Miranda Lawson had spent the last two years of her life rebuilding Commander Shepard from the ground up. The process had not been without its challenges, and the costs were astronomical, and that was not including the building of the Normandy SR-2, developing the Enhanced Defense Intelligence, or the costs of running the crew. And the process itself was seemingly impossible at times; practically everything that could go wrong did, right down to Wilson selling Cerberus out and her nearly dying. But she had succeeded. And when Shepard arrived at the shuttle pad on the doomed station, her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Miranda was as cynical as you could be, and was never impressed by looks or charisma. And yet, when the man she had spent the last two years rebuilding stepped through the door, she was momentarily caught up in the moment, like Cinderella meeting Prince Charming.

And that had prompted her to put a lot of emotional distance between herself and Shepard. She knew she had been rude and disrespectful to him prior to the Freedom's Progress mission, but he had put aside any frustration and completed the mission professionally. This had the unexpected effect of impressing her even more. Then his damned paragon attitude about placing the lives of survivors and innocents ahead of getting the job done, while troubling, had also impressed her. Cerberus was very much about the big picture, and operated very much on the premise that the ends justified the means, and that sacrifices had to be made for the good of humanity. Shepard was different. The hero of the Blitz, he was famous specifically for doing what nobody else thought could be done; he held Elysium practically single handedly until the breach in the colony's defenses could be sealed, thus ending the attack with very few civilian casualties and minimal losses among his own men. For this the Alliance had awarded him the Star of Terra.

And now, here she was aboard the new Normandy, serving as that icon's XO. Though she tried to be professional and treat this as a very important mission, part of her was excited to be working with Shepard in spite of her attempts to remain dispassionate. Using her talents to save the galaxy alongside Humanity's greatest hero was very compelling. Her door chimed interrupting her thoughts, so she put down her work and signaled the door to open, saying,

"Come in."

It was Shepard. He wore the Cerberus officers' uniform that he had been provided with, and wore it well, she thought. Of course, his clothing options were limited almost entirely to Cerberus uniforms. What little he had that did not bear Cerberus' emblem was undergarments and sleep wear. She laughed silently to herself; he hated the idea of wearing a Cerberus uniform. _Perhaps we'll change your mind, she thought_. But he was not here just so she could admire him.

"What can I do for you, Commander," she opened warmly, smiling at him. Miranda was designed to be the perfect woman, and that included beautiful, seductive looks. And she had trained to use those looks to her fullest advantage. Shepard was all business, however, not showing the slightest crack in his defenses.

"Anything I should know regarding the Normandy?" he asked.

"The crew's working well, and the ship appears to be performing to specifications," she replied cheerfully, still working her looks and charm.

"What exactly are your duties; aside from keeping an eye on me?"

_Right to it_, she thought. As a Spectre, it was unlikely that Shepard would be easily taken in, and with her being openly Cerberus, she had her work cut out. Of course, she would have been disappointed if she had been able to wrap him around her finger that easily. She kept the charm on as she answered.

"I'm the Illusive Man's agent. You're his most important asset; my job is to make sure you succeed. Aside from that … I send regular reports to the Illusive Man, updating our status."

She expected him to press her for more concrete information, or to bristle at the mention that she was reporting on him, but he did neither.

"Do you have a minute, Miranda?"

"No doubt you have a lot of questions," she said as reassuringly as she could. "Cerberus isn't as evil as most people would have you believe. If you have any doubts, I'd be happy to answer your questions. So, what would you like to know?"

"I know what we're doing here, but what is Cerberus' long term goals?"

Now this was unexpected. It sounded like genuine interest. _Alright_, she thought. _I'll bite_.

"The advancement of the Human race. Nothing more, nothing less," she proudly declared. "The Salarians have their Special Task Group, the Asari have their legendary commandos for stealth and recon operations. Cerberus is Humanity's answer to those organizations."

"But those organizations are regulated by governments," he countered. "Who keeps Cerberus in check?"

"Nobody," she explained. "We're privately funded and our backers trust the Illusive Man to make the right decisions. But he's very clear about our goals; protect Humanity and serve its advancement." Saying it out loud, even she had to admit that it sounded naïve. She mentally prepared herself for the onslaught of logical rebuttals that she expected him to offer, but he switched gears.

"What is Cerberus? Military? Political? Or both?"

"Cerberus has several divisions," she said. "Political, military, scientific. But we're all working towards the same goal. We keep our ranks and structure similar to the Alliance; a lot of our recruits started there. But not all Cerberus operations use the same protocols. We try not to get bogged down in bureaucracy or formality."

She again braced herself for Shepard to dig into how Cerberus started out as an Alliance black ops, but instead, he asked about Cerberus' leader.

"What can you tell me about the Illusive Man?"

"Not much that you don't already know. Even I don't have access to most of his background," she confessed. "And you've more of him than most ever do. It's rare for him to become involved in missions, but you're something special." She could hear the admiration in her own voice. It just reinforced all of her own self-doubt. A man of fairly humble origins, Shepard's accomplishments had set him apart. No fancy education, no genetic tailoring, and no biotics. And yet, here he was in command of the Normandy, and for the duration of this mission, her superior officer. But she continued before she went further down that rabbit trail; he had to know, to understand, just how important the Illusive Man was to Humanity. "Whatever else people might say about him, I can assure you he's got Humanity's best interests at heart," she said emphatically. "That includes you and me."

This time, he did dig into the topic further.

"How can you be sure of that if you know so little about him?"

"I didn't get where I am without knowing how to gauge people's motives and ambitions, even from brief encounters," she said somewhat defensively. "He's no saint, and he'd be the first to admit it, but he's committed. Humanity couldn't have a better advocate."

She steeled herself again for an anticipated questioning of the Illusive Man's dedication to Humanity and her ability to know that he was genuine, but again, he switched gears, which threw her off balance.

"What kind of resources does Cerberus have?" he asked.

"We're very well-funded, though I doubt anyone but the Illusive Man knows exactly how well," she said readily. "But our resources are not unlimited; reviving you and rebuilding the Normandy was a significant investment, and a significant risk." Then she added cheerfully, "We're all hoping you can do the impossible, Shepard. No pressure."

Before she could even anticipate his response, not that she had had any success thus far, he caught her off guard saying,

"Tell me about yourself, Miranda."

"I guess that's fair," she replied, almost reflexively. "I've spent the last two years learning everything there is to know about you." That was not entirely true; records of his Spectre missions were sealed beyond even her ability to break in. But his background, Alliance service and public information she had memorized.

Before she realized it, she was telling Shepard things about herself. Very personal things.

"Well, you should probably know that I've had extensive genetic modification. Not my decision, but I make the most of it." She leaned against the desk, her shoulders momentarily slumping as she thought about the many strings that came attached to her gifts. Then she realized that she was showing more emotion than she intended. She straightened up and smiled, saying, "It's one of the reasons the Illusive Man handpicked me. I'm very good at just about anything I choose to do."

"What level of genetic modification are we talking about?" asked Shepard matter of factly.

"It's very thorough," she said animatedly. Strings or no, her she had always found her own modifications fascinating, not to mention that genetics was a field of intense interest for her. "Physically, I'm superior in many ways. I heal quickly and I'll likely live half again as long as the average human. My biotic abilities are also very advanced … for a human. Add to that some of the best training and education that money can buy and, well, it's pretty impressive … really." Her confidence waned at the end, but he seemed not to notice.

"You certainly don't lack for confidence," he observed, his voice complimentary.

"It's just a fact," she said with some resignation. "My reflexes, my strength, even my looks – they're all designed to give me an edge. No point in hiding from it." _As if I could_, she thought. Then she added suddenly, "It's the reason I'm trusted to oversee the most dangerous, risky, and technically demanding operations Cerberus undertakes." _Who am I trying sell on that?_ she thought. _Him or myself? Time to get the focus off of me, dammit!_ "It's why I was assigned to you. It's my job to make sure you succeed, Shepard."

Nobody else on the ship knew just how much of her supposed gifts were genetically engineered into her. _Nothing of my own_, she thought. _Why am I telling him all this?_ But before she could answer herself, Shepard ended the conversation.

"Thanks for the information, Miranda. I'll talk to you later."

"Of course, Shepard," she said deferentially. "Whatever you need."

Miranda was relieved as the door closed, leaving her alone in her quarters once again. Or so she thought.

"My biometric scans of your body indicate that you were very close to giving him privileged information, Miss Lawson," came Edi's voice, startling her.

Miranda nearly jumped out of her skin. She tried not to show it, but Edi's diagnostics would not be fooled by such subtleties. _Damned AI_, she thought.

"I was not," Miranda retorted. "Besides, I can handle myself; don't tell me how to do my job."

"Clearly, you cannot," replied Edi, her voice devoid of emotion. "Not where Shepard is concerned. I observed your conversation with interest; Shepard led you exactly where he wanted you to go, and you gave up far more information than you should have."

"Shepard is a soldier, not an operative," Miranda declared. "He's not trained in interrogation."

"Shepard is a Spectre," countered Edi. "Something you should be acutely aware of. He has received a great deal of special training, and has overseen the most dangerous, risky, and technically demanding operations that the Council has. And he's an officer; the skipper of the Normandy."

"They should have made him a captain," Miranda said out loud.

"They did," replied Edi. "But he was then reduced in rank for stealing the Normandy, thus remaining a commander. Ambassador Udina has considerable pull, and keeping Shepard at his rank prior to the Battle of the Citadel was the only way to get him to withdraw his complaints."

"I know that Edi!" Miranda half said/half shouted. She could not believe it. First Shepard had worked her, and now the computer was working her.

"Humans often need reminders," replied the machine. "And you need to remember that Shepard successfully led the first major multi-species operation that involved humanity; it is self-deception to think otherwise on your part. His alien crewmembers were fiercely loyal to him. Shepard not only led them, but kept them in line. He knows how to get information from his subordinates. Never forget that Shepard is more experienced than his years would suggest, or that he is your intellectual equal."

"Again, Edi, don't tell me how to do my job."

"My goal is the same as yours, Miss Lawson; to monitor our progress and report to the Illusive Man. While it may be your job to make sure that Shepard succeeds, it is my job to make sure that you succeed, Miranda. Do not forget that."

Edi's avatar vanished from her screen, indicating that the connection had been terminated. But Edi was most certainly keeping an eye on her. _Let it watch_, she thought defiantly. _I'm the Illusive Man's top agent. And I'll show that bloody machine who's in charge_.

Shepard could hardly believe it; for all her confidence and haughtiness, Miranda was insecure. And insecure about the very things that seemed to also give her the confidence to do her job: her genetic engineering. She was beautiful, no denying, but also cold and aloof. But after their success in the Freedom's Progress mission, Miranda had warmed up. Shepard had again taken a cordial tack, asking about the ship, but when the conversation had turned to the subject of Miranda herself, Shepard found that she was opening up to him. He had pressed, gently and subtly, and she had almost given up information that he knew he was not privy to. But more importantly, she showed her vulnerability. He wondered why such magnificent gifts would be a source of insecurity. _In due time_, he thought, _I'll find out_.

He had to laugh; Ashley was just the opposite; fully confident in herself and her own abilities, but driven by her family's failure. She had been saddled not only with their failures, but with her own realization that she lacked the very gifts that Miranda had. Miranda was incredibly articulate and intelligent, while Ashley, though no dunce, was not any kind of supra-genius. Ashley also had to use the words of "those sappy poets" as she called them to voice her own feelings. Ash's expression through literature was one of the things he had fallen in love with. He wondered where she was.

It did not take long for Cerberus to try to put Shepard to work on missions that had nothing to do with the Collectors or the Reapers. It seemed that Cerberus had an operative who had been lost, only to turn up on Lorek in the Fahar system. It was nearby, and the mission was to retrieve the very sensitive Cerberus data the agent had been carrying. Shepard was about to tell the Illusive Man not to waste his time. But then a plan formed in his mind, prompting him to signal his acceptance of the mission.

_I know what this organization is, and you know that_, he thought. _You want to send a Spectre to get your sensitive data? Heh; be careful what you wish for_.

After Freedom's Progress and time spent aboard the new Normandy the first order of business was a Cerberus specific mission; they had gone to the Fahar System to retrieve data from a slain Cerberus operative. Battling through Eclipse mercs, Shepard was again impressive. And they got the data. She was surprised that he had even been willing to do that one; it was not pertinent to the Collector mission and was wholly for the benefit of Cerberus.

In spite of their initial friction, Shepard was proving to be cooperative. Edi's words still rang in her ears; Shepard could very easily be playing her. She knew that it was a possibility, especially as their alliance was still new and still very tenuous. During Shepard's reconstruction, she had pushed to have a control chip installed in him, but the Illusive Man would not allow it; anything that might potentially alter his personality, change who he was, or somehow render him not-Shepard was off limits. She was very annoyed with the Illusive Man's refusal to go along with her on it at the time. Now, however, she was glad that he had refused. She decided that it was for the best; Shepard needed to truly be Shepard.


	3. Chapter 3: Omega

**Chapter 3: Omega**

Somehow, Admiral Hackett had found a way to contact Shepard aboard the new Normandy. This meant that the Alliance knew about Shepard and Cerberus. Miranda wondered how this was possible; Shepard's outgoing communications were all tapped and monitored, and as near as anyone could tell, he had made no attempts to send any outgoing communications. Miranda knew that Shepard was resourceful, but she doubted that he could out-hack her. But if Shepard had not been the leak, then who was?

It seemed that Hackett wanted Shepard to do work for the Alliance as well, going to Alchera, the world the first Normandy had crashed upon following what was most certainly an attack by the Collectors, and collecting dog tags of the dead from the wreckage so that they could be returned to their families. Shepard had accepted the mission without hesitation, which bothered Miranda, though she understood his desire to go. _Better to accommodate him_, she thought. _It might make him more sympathetic to us, and that could be of use later on_.

Miranda had been concerned when Shepard took the shuttle alone to search the wreckage of the old Normandy; Shepard could have taken the shuttle and made a break for it, but he was insistent. Thankfully, it seemed that he was true to his word and was returning. When the shuttle was incoming, she went to the shuttle bay to wait for him, still concerned that he may have actually tricked them and sent the shuttle back empty. Jacob had joined her, though she was not sure why.

"Reminds me of old stories," he said after they had stood silently for about five minutes.

"What?" she asked, suddenly turning towards him, a puzzled look on her face.

"You waiting for the Commander," replied Jacob. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"Worried that he may have just ditched us," she said darkly.

"Not what your body language says," replied Jacob.

She was about to respond when the shuttle bay opened. The Mass Effect field kept the bay from depressurizing, so they were able to stand there with no breathing apparatus. It occurred to her that if Shepard had wanted to, he could have deactivated the field. It would have been child's play for a man with his skill. She wondered why that thought had not occurred to her before they were standing here untethered and without any breathing apparatus on hand.

When Shepard stepped out of the shuttle, she felt reassured; she had trusted Shepard and he had lived up to her trust. When he removed his helmet, she noticed that he was somber. He had in his hands twenty dog tags that had been worn by men and women he considered friends.

"Commander," she said, as she and Jacob saluted him. "Find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah," he said, holding up the tags.

_Is that … tears in his eyes?_ She could hardly believe it; Shepard wept for his lost crewmen. She had always heard that he was a very stoic man, but to see how deeply he cared for his old crew, his friends, really moved her. _Not just friends_, she thought, _family_. And he still mourned the loss of Kaiden Alenko, and deeply missed Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, a woman he had loved as more than just a shipmate. She noticed that he had taken time to get to know the crew of the Normandy SR-2, even though they were Cerberus. And not just to get information. He talked to them about their families and friends, loved ones they worried about losing to the Collectors, and in some cases, loved ones they had lost to the Collectors. Shepard, for all his resistance to Cerberus, had fallen into his role as skipper. Perhaps it was the presence of Joker and Doctor Chakwas, but she did not think so. Shepard was one of those rare people who actually cared about the people who served under him. She found it comforting to be among them.

"That'll really bring peace to their families," said Jacob. "It's been two years, but still; those things bring … closure, you know?"

Shepard nodded in agreement as the bay door closed. Before she realized what she was doing, Miranda reached out and touched his arm.

"I'm sorry, Shepard," she said, trying to be consoling. "I know they were good men and women."

"They were," he replied. He looked back at her with a bittersweet smile and touched her hand. "Thanks." Then he brushed past them, going straight to the lift.

"You're welcome," she said as the doors closed.

After retrieving the dog tags of those soldiers lost aboard the Normandy SR-1, Shepard lost time getting to work; he headed straight to Omega, there to recruit Zaeed Massani, Doctor Mordin Solus, and Archangel. Zaeed and Archangel were on the list in order to fill out the team, with Massani an experienced merc and Archangel a top level sniper. But it was the Salarian Doctor Solus who was the most important; they needed him to develop a countermeasure against the Seeker Swarms that Veetor had warned them about. She did not like bringing aliens onto the team, but in order to save the Human colonies, they had to do it.

Archangel was also an alien; a Turian. Though nobody knew his identity, his skill as a sniper was unmatched except maybe by Commander Shepard himself. And the vigilante had a good reputation with the downtrodden humans of Omega, so Miranda considered him a good risk; any alien who put himself on the line to save human lives was alright in her book. _The only question is …_ _will he work with us?_

She heard the docking tube seal to the airlock, signaling her that it was time to disembark. They had arrived at Omega. Now, their recruitment efforts could begin in earnest.

They hurried as fast as they could to get the injured Archangel to Normandy's med bay. His injuries were severe and his life signs were fading fast. Things with the Turian sniper had taken many unusual turns, including ending up in a shootout with three different merc gangs, one of which attacked them with a gunship. Zaeed Massani was never in doubt, as he had already agreed to the job and just needed to be picked up. Mordin was surprisingly excited about the opportunity, and while they had to deal with Blood Pack spreading what was likely a Collector engineered plague that killed non Humans across species, actually bringing the doctor aboard was very straightforward. Archangel, however, was the big surprise. Miranda was just as shocked as Shepard when the Turian had removed his helmet to reveal the face of Garrus Vakarian. She did not know many Turians on sight, but Garrus was a hero, even to many in Cerberus. When she saw that Archangel had been one of Shepard's team in the Battle of the Citadel, she inwardly cheered; getting Garrus Vakarian was a huge bonus.

But now that bonus was in serious jeopardy, as Garrus had just taken a shot from a rocket launcher, resulting in serious damage to his face and upper body. He was hanging on, only just barely. Shepard had administered medi-gel immediately, probably saving the Turian's life, and talked to him continually as they carried him back, reassuring him that he would be alright, and trying his hardest to keep his old friend in the fight. When the Normandy's airlock opened, Doctor Chakwas and Kelly Chambers were waiting with a gurney to receive the wounded Turian.

"Oh my," gasped Doctor Chakwas upon seeing Garrus' shattered face. "Hang in there, old friend!"

Shepard placed Garrus onto the gurney and wheeled him to the med bay himself, allowing the Doctor to her job as they went. Once they were in the med bay, Shepard stayed until the doctor told him that Garrus would be alright. And amazingly, in less than twenty four hours, Garrus Vakarian was not only okay, but was up and declaring himself fit for duty. Jacob had been amazed at how tough the Turian was, and Miranda had to agree; Garrus' toughness was legendary, and his reputation appeared to be well earned. Like Shepard, death had not been able to keep its icy grip on him.

Though it was not just the recruitment and near loss of one of their new team members that was on Miranda's mind. Shepard's actions along the way really painted more of a picture of him than any line of questioning might. He had paid a hapless Quarian's way off of Omega, enabling the vagabond to continue his pilgrimage. He had shown mercy to a sick Batarian and made sure that Mordin sent someone to help him. He had even saved Mordin's assistant, Daniel, from Batarians who thought the assistant was spreading the plague on Omega. Miranda was all set to kill the Batarians once the assistant was safe, but Shepard spared them.

But when they faced the Blood Pack Vorcha and Krogan, Shepard's manner changed abruptly from that of a well-armed benefactor to that of the Juggernaut of Destruction he had become famous for. He demonstrated a mastery of his weapons that Miranda had never seen in anyone, even the most highly trained operative. Indeed, his combat skills far exceeded her own, and she was top notch. When a charging Krogan closed on him and he took the brute down in hand to hand combat, she felt a surge of excitement. _We can do it_, she thought, even though logically, she knew that his ability to beat a Krogan in hand to hand combat was unimportant in the mission they were undertaking. Still, seeing him in action was inspiring. She now realized why he was such a powerful icon, and why Humans and aliens alike would follow him without question. Even she was getting caught up in the effect, and she was trying not to be.

Garrus Vakarian was alive and well, and on the Normandy. Shepard could hardly believe his good fortune as his friend walked in, interrupting Jacob's status report.

"Shepard," said Garrus, "nobody will give me a mirror or tell me how bad it is." Garrus looked bad. Real bad. The right side of his face was scorch marks, scarring, and a cybernetic patch to mend and hold his right mandible together.

"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly," said Shepard good naturedly, "Just slap some face paint on and nobody will know the difference."

"Oh, damn," laughed Garrus, "don't make me laugh; my face is barely holding together as it is. Ah, it's for the best; women were always ignoring you and hitting on me. Now you can have a chance for a change."

"Tough son of a bitch," remarked Jacob with admiration as Shepard laughed, shaking his head. Jacob saluted Shepard and left the two old friends alone in the conference room.

"Frankly, I'm more concerned about you," said Garrus once Jacob was gone. "Cerberus, Shepard. You remember all those sick experiments they were doing."

"I need their resources to get this job done, nothing more," replied Shepard.

Garrus nodded. He knew Shepard well, and knew that Shepard would always do the right thing, no matter what. Satisfied, he saluted.

"I'm fit for duty whenever you need me," said Garrus.

"Damn good to have you back, Garrus," said Shepard, still amazed at his luck in being reunited with the Turian sniper. As crazy as things had been since he woke up, this was the craziest in his opinion. And the best so far. _Now, when I finally see Ash again, that'll be the best_.

He went to his cabin and sat down, taking stock of everything that had happened up to now. Jacob had been easygoing and forthright from their first meeting, and he genuinely like him, even though he had a lot of problems with Cerberus. Since his return, it seemed that everything Jacob had said was true, and being totally honest with himself, he had to admit that the Alliance' and Council's backsliding had begun long before his being spaced and declared KIA. And then there was Miranda.

They had seemed to get along well enough initially, but after his first conversation with the Illusive Man, she was bordering on hostile. Then they went to Freedom's Progress, and made the first real progress in this whole thing apparently since the colony disappearances had begun. She saw him in action, and her former cordiality had returned. Then they returned to the station, where Joker and the Normandy SR-2 were waiting. Reunited with Joker, and then Doctor Chakwas, he felt more confident about the mission, especially since Joker was confirming everything Miranda and Jacob had said about the Alliance' denial of the Reapers and their mishandling of the missing colonies.

Later, they went to Lorek in the Fahar System and retrieved the Cerberus data from the slain operative. While Miranda and Jacob were again impressed with his performance, neither operative saw him make a copy of the data for himself. While he liked Jacob, and had warmed a little to Miranda, he had absolutely no sympathies with Cerberus. Once he got back to the Citadel, he would pass it along to Anderson, along with the dog tags.

When he struck up conversation with Miranda later on, it was apparent that she had no idea that he had worked against Cerberus right under her very nose. More surprisingly, though, she _really_ opened up to him. He knew that she was a trained operative, but he was pretty certain that she was being genuine, which made him wonder if her loyalty to Cerberus was something she had sold herself on in order to solve some problem in her life. Regardless, he would continue to talk to her and find out what made her tick. To some extent, Miranda was a mystery to him, and she was a mystery that he needed to solve before this was all over.


	4. Chapter 4: Loyalty and Recruitment

**Chapter 4: Loyalty and Recruitment**

Zaeed Massani's services had come with one string attached: a mission to the planet Zorya, in the Ismar Frontier, where Blue Suns leader, Vido Santiago had enslaved the workers at an Eldfel-Ashland refinery. Eldfel-Ashland was paying Massani and any team he put together to drive out the Suns, secure the refinery, and free the workers. Simple enough, and the idea of freeing captured civilians was appealing to Shepard; certainly more so than helping Cerberus to recover their dirty little secrets. But first things first; from Omega, Shepard ordered the Normandy to the Citadel.

Upon arriving at the Citadel, they met Kasumi Goto at the dock, much as they had Zaeed. Like Zaeed, Kasumi simply needed to be collected; her contract and fee had already been worked out. Also like Zaeed, there was a part of her contract that Shepard was expected to fulfill. It really irked him that money and saving the galaxy was not enough motivation for these people. Apparently, self-preservation had become overrated during his time asleep.

After Captain Bailey took care of his being listed as dead, he paid Anderson a visit, gave him the Cerberus data and the dog tags, and had a video chat with the Council. The Council denied the Reaper threat, which did not shock him, but did surprise him; _how could they deny it after the Battle of the Citadel? _But he knew the answer; the very human trait of hoping that if they ignore it long enough, it might go away. Well, this problem was not going away. To make matters worse, the Council would not even pledge to help protect the colonies fromt he Collectors. And Anderson was impotent. He believed Shepard and stood up for him, but he was not an equal on the Council. Nor did the Alliance take him seriously on the Reapers. Anderson had been defeated by his very victory over Udina.

Worst of all, Anderson refused to tell him anything about Ash. At least Shepard's Spectre status had been reinstated. He longed to contact her, but since his awakening, he had been unable to find a means of contacting her. He knew that he would see her eventually, but for some reason, he felt a sense of foreboding. Still, he could not let go of the hope of reuniting with her. He truly hoped that he could get her to join his crew. _Shepard, Ashley, and Garrus together again; now that would be something to see_, he thought.

With that out of the way, he immediately embarked upon Zaeed's mission. Along the way, they stopped off in the nearby Elysta system on the planet Zeona to pick up the Hammerhead Rover from the downed MSV Rosalie. This was part of another Cerberus operation, Project Firewalker. As Doctors Cayce and O'Loy were gathering data on the Protheans, he decided that he would lend the Normandy's aid, as the leads might also coincide with his own mission.

Once they had secured the Hammerhead Rover, they went to Zorya to free the refinery workers. Once there, Zaeed went completely off the rails, causing an explosion that opened the front gate, but also started a major fire, trapping the very workers that they had been sent to free. Zaeed apparently had been Santiago's business partners and co-founder of the Suns, but somewhere along the way, their business relationship had soured and Santiago shot Massani in the head and left him for dead.

But Massani had survived and was out for revenge. To him, this mission was merely a vehicle to obtain that revenge, and when it became apparent that they now had to not only take out the Suns, but rescue the workers, Massani was adamant that they ignore the workers and concentrate on Vido, leaving the workers to burn to death. Shepard could not believe it. _Forget loyalty_, he thought. He and Miranda both agreed that the workers, all human, came before Santiago's thugs.

They succeeded, both saving the workers, securing the facility and killing all of the Suns, but Vido got away. Zaeed and Shepard stood with guns drawn, but before the standoff went on any longer, it was resolved when an explosion set off by Zaeed's careless tossing of a thermal clip into a pool of flammable liquid sent a chunk of debris at them. Shepard got out of the way, but Zaeed was trapped under a large piece of a wall section. Shepard convinced the insane merc to put his personal issues aside and work towards the good of the mission, just barely retaining the veteran's loyalty. Shepard still was not convinced that Massani was a good fit, but Shepard seemed to have earned the old merc's respect.

Miranda did not say much on the trip back to the Normandy, but once they were off of the shuttle and Zaeed was out of earshot, she pulled him aside.

"I thought for sure you'd have killed him," she said. "And if you had, I'd have backed you up a hundred percent. That man's a bloody menace."

"Yeah," agreed Shepard. "Hopefully, he can stow it until your Illusive Man finds a way through the Omega-4 Relay."

"Not _my_ Illusive Man," she corrected. "He's _our_ Illusive Man."

"I'm afraid we'll have agree to disagree on that one," replied Shepard, disinterested in arguing about something so trivial. Miranda had just been at his side through a very dangerous mission; no need to alienate her over semantics.

"Fair enough," she said. "But yes, if he can save his rage and hate for the Collectors, then I can live with him. I must say, Shepard, I was very impressed with you stood up to him, did the job, and then kept his loyalty. Not many leaders could have done that; you did."

"Thanks, Miranda," he said cheerfully. "That means a lot."

With Zaeed's mission out of the way, and the Illusive Man still no closer to finding a way through the Omega-4 Relay, Shepard focused on the Firewalker missions. Good thing too; the Geth were involved, which meant that the Reapers were somehow connected. It seemed that the Geth, as well as the Blue Suns, were shadowing the survey team. As it turned out that one of the doctors, O'Loy, had sold out to the Collectors in order to buy safety for the planet where his wife lived. Both doctors had ended up dead; O'Loy at Doctor Cayce's hands after Cayce caught him sending their position to the Geth, and then Cayce by his own hands. His last recordings mentioned that he was hearing voices in his head; he was in the early stages of indoctrination, and was determined to destroy the Prothean relic they had found. He managed to kill himself, but the voices would not let him destroy the artifact. Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob recovered the sphere, capturing data from it when it flashed a brief, but intense transmission at their approach.

The Blue Suns had gotten involved after hijacking a ship and stealing the records of the mission. Shepard shut down several Blue Suns sites, finally recovering another Prothean artifact from one of them. Vido Santiago's name was in many of the communiques Shepard managed to intercept. He could see why Zaeed wanted so badly to kill the man, though he refused to sacrifice those workers; Zaeed had gone way too far with that. Still, by the time all was said and done, Shepard had put a serious dent in Santiago's operations, much to Zaeed's satisfaction.

After the Firewalker missions were done, they went on to Korlus recruit Warlord Okeer. Okeer was something rare: a Krogan geneticist. Okeer had also had dealings with the Collectors, and the hope was that he would have information that would help Shepard's team in their mission. Okeer was holed up in a Blue Suns base run by Jedore. By the time Shepard had arrived, Jedore realized that she had been duped by Okeer, who was supposed to be breeding an army of Krogan for her, but instead simply used her resources along with the tech he got from the Collectors to manufacture one perfect Krogan. Somehow, Rana Thanoptis, one of Saren's Asari henchmen, had gotten involved in helping Okeer as a warped way to redeem herself.

Shepard, along with Miranda and Jacob, ended up fighting and killing Jedore and the Blue Suns while Okeer died saving his Krogan creation from the gas deployed by Jedore. After bringing the tank to the Normandy, both Shepard and Miranda considered the mission a bust, though the Krogan in the tank may prove useful in the fight against the Collectors.

Once he awakened the Krogan, who called himself Grunt, Shepard had to use force and intimidation to let him know that Shepard was the pack leader and that Grunt was to fall in line. A powerful biotic with programmed weapons knowledge and skills, and the most physically impressive member of the team, Grunt could be a huge asset, but only if he were with the program.

From Korlus, they then went to the Osun System in the Hourglass Nebula to rendezvous with the Purgatory, a Blue Suns operated prison ship. Shepard was really getting sick of the Blue Suns. They were paid by Cerberus for Jack, but instead of releasing her, they tried to capture Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob. The three mowed their way through the Blue Suns with little effort and finally freed Jack, who turned out to be the most powerful human biotic in history. Jack went on a rampage that ultimately would destroy the Purgatory, while the three of them killed the Blue Suns. When they finally caught up with her and offered her a way off, Shepard found that Jack had a very negative history with Cerberus and refused to leave the soon to be destroyed Purgatory with them.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Jack said icily.

"I'm offering to be your friend," said Shepard, frustrated at this point with the whole thing. "You don't want to be my enemy."

"Yeah," added Jacob. "They have a way of ending up dead."

"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me somewhere," she replied. "You think I'm stupid?"

"This ship is going down in flames," said Shepard. "I've got the only way out. I'm offering to take you with me, and you're arguing." The inference that Jack was indeed stupid was impossible to miss.

"We could just knock her out and take her," offered Miranda, also frustrated with Jack at this point.

"I'd like to see you try," challenged Jack.

"We're not gonna attack her," said Shepard, dispelling any notions of forcibly kidnapping Jack.

"Good move," agreed Jack. "Look, you want me to come with you, make it worth my while."

"Join my team and I'll do what I can for you," Shepard offered.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," warned Jack. "I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files; see what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those databases."

"I'll give you full access," said Shepard without hesitation.

"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that," exclaimed Miranda with alarm.

Jacob's eyes went wide; this was going to be a serious confrontation later, but Shepard did not back down.

"Ooh, it upsets the Cheerleader," sneered Jack. "Even better." Then she got close to Shepard and pointed her finger at his chest, though she did not have the temerity to actually poke him. "You better be straight with me," she warned.

Shepard just nodded.

"So why the hell are we standing here?" asked Jack.

"Move out," Shepard ordered.

Once aboard, things did not improve. Miranda tried to assert herself with Jack, but Jack wasn't having any of it. She told Shepard to get the "cheerleader" to back off, and then demanded file access.

"Miranda will let me into the system," said Shepard without hesitation. "Let me know what you find."

Miranda was livid. She thought that Shepard was coming around, but this? This was a betrayal, pure and simple.

"You hear that, precious?" taunted Jack. "We're going to be friends; you, me, and every embarrassing little secret."

Miranda did not even hear Jack's snide parting comments. As soon as the tattooed psycho was out of the room, she looked at Shepard with disgust and shook her head. She was about to leave, but suddenly turned around and confronted him.

"How could you do that to me?" she shouted. "I rebuilt you! I know you don't like Cerberus, but I figured that counted for something!"

"Will you relax, Miranda?"

"Relax? How?" She could not believe him. "You just … handed over our files to her! I know you're not Cerberus, but dammit, Shepard, I am! I know were not friends, but dammit! I thought we could at least work well professionally!"

"Miranda," he said somewhat patronizingly, "I had to make you the bad cop in this; you really are Cerberus. But if you think I'm just giving her full access, you don't know me very well."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry to make you the heel, but it worked; you performed to a tee," he explained. "I'd have given you a heads up, but you and Jacob wouldn't leave her side. While you were getting her into the conference room, I had EDI set up some Cerberus databases. Nothing on Jack that I don't have access to, but nothing that will compromise your organization."

"So, you … tricked her?"

"Partly," he said. "I already figured out what she's after; she spouted on about it so much in the shuttle that I was able to put it together pretty easily. She wants information on Pragia, where she was kept. The facility is abandoned, so no harm in giving it up. There's enough there to keep her from seeing through my little ruse, but nothing that's truly sensitive, though Edi made sure that it looks that way. I'll send you a copy of everything I gave her."

Suddenly, EDI's words rang in her ears: "He is a Spectre." It was hard to trust and then see her trust seemingly betrayed, but she had to admit that it was the perfect way to get Jack's cooperation. She truly wished that she had been given more information on the biotic prodigy. She did not even know Jack's gender prior to the mission, much less the woman's history with Cerberus. It was almost as though the Illusive Man intentionally let them find out on their own.

"Alright, Shepard," she said, her anger subsiding. "I'll trust you on this."

"Yeah," said Shepard. "Oh, just a reminder; it wasn't my idea to bring an L5 biotic into the enclosed space that is the Normandy. I'll take credit for Grunt, but Grunt doesn't have it in for you and Cerberus; Jack does. I'm willing to humor her, or at least appear to do so, in the interest of unit cohesion."

"Good point," she conceded. "Shepard, I didn't know that she was an L5. Or even a 'she' for that matter, and I certainly didn't know her history with us."

"I know," he replied. "And that worries me more than you know."

The two of them left the conference room calmer than when they had entered. As she walked to the lift, she heard Kelly say to Shepard,

"Commander, the Illusive man would like to speak with you in the conference room."

Shepard turned around and went back to the conference room as Miranda stepped into the lift and ordered it to the crew deck. As she returned to her cabin, Shepard's words played over and over in her mind. Why was this information not given to them prior to picking up Jack? It would have really helped them. Miranda may have stayed on the ship and let Garrus and Mordin join the Commander. She had no ready answers, but she had a sinking feeling that she would learn the truth sooner than later.


	5. Chapter 5: Horizon

**Chapter 5: Horizon**

The tip on Horizon being next was questionable at best as far as Shepard was concerned. But who cares? Ashley was there. He had memorized some Tennyson and Whitman lines so he could really make their reunion special. But what was she doing out here? The Illusive Man seemed to think that it was more than just participation in Alliance outreach to the colonies. Colonial outreach was hardly anything classified, but Anderson would not tell him even that. The indicator was that the Illusive Man was right; Ashley was out here for something else, something secret. He decided that this mission needed Garrus. The Turian was ready to get out and get some action, and Shepard really looked forward to having some semblance of his old team together.

At the same time, the mission was about stopping the Collectors, and he need to be fully prepared to face them head on. This would be a trial by fire for Mordin's countermeasure; if it did not work, they would have no choice but to abandon the mission, and that was assuming that they survived long enough to do so. If the countermeasure worked, however, then the Collectors were about to meet their first real resistance since they began the abductions.

As the shuttle touched down, the three squad mates hit the ground running. The seeker swarms attempted to sting them, but were repelled by the modifications to their shields. Mordin's countermeasure was a resounding success. Shepard saw the Collector ship towering over the colony. It reminded him of seeing Sovereign looming over Eden Prime. The ship was certainly as big as Sovereign. But more importantly, now that he saw the ship, he knew one thing for certain: it was the Collectors who had destroyed the original Normandy.

For the first time since the investigation began, the true nature of their foes was now unfolding; first, they faced a force of Collectors and husks, virtually guaranteeing that the Collectors were working with the Reapers. The Collectors themselves were insectoid bipeds. They were no doubt terrifying to a colonist, but to Shepard, Garrus, and Miranda, they were just another foe to kill. After the first skirmish was over, they examined one of the husks. These husks were visibly more advanced than the ones he had faced in the battle against Saren and Sovereign. And where there were no Geth, he knew that the Geth were still a factor, though their part in this had not yet been revealed.

As they pressed further into the colony, they met their second wave of Collectors. They noticed that the husks had completely vanished from their ranks. While physically tough, the husks were unarmed. The Collectors were armed with particle beam rifles, making them much more of a threat. But it did not matter; Shepard refused to allow them even an inch of victory. He would fight his way to that ship and find some way to take it out, though at this point he had no idea how.

With the second wave dispatched, they encountered the frozen colonists and pods that the Collectors had been loading them into. He paused at one of the colonists, a woman on the ground who was recoiling in terror from what had likely been the seeker swarms. She was darker skinned, looking to be of either Indian or Pakistani decent. Her eyes were wide, filled with panic. As he looked her over, it soon became apparent that she was actually conscious, but unable to move. It seemed that all of the colonists were actually aware of their predicament.

"Just awful," exclaimed Miranda. "To be conscious and at their mercy … unthinkable!"

"When I'm done with them," growled Shepard, "the Collectors will know what it means to fear an implacable foe. Come on; the Collectors won't take one more colonist! Not on my watch!"

But the Collectors soon proved that they had more tricks up their sleeves than the first two waves had indicated. Now, an unseen entity made its presence known, not only directing the Collectors from afar, but also taking possession of individual Collectors. When a Collector was possessed, the entity would actually speak through it, saying,

"We are Harbinger." After which, it would taunt them, calling Shepard by name, saying, "This is what you face, Shepard."

_They know who I am_, he thought as he killed the possessed creature. It became clear that the Collectors were not unique individuals, but a collective, almost with a hive mentality. While possessed by "Harbinger," the individual Collector was much more powerful, its armor and shields enhanced, and its attacks much more powerful. It did not matter; Shepard killed each and every one.

They made their way to what looked like a garage or maintenance building, which they unlocked and entered, hoping to find more survivors. And this time, they actually found a survivor who was also not frozen, having hidden out in the building to evade the swarms. No doubt, Shepard's arrival had interrupted the Collectors' effort to abduct the colonists, as evinced by the many frozen people who still remained.

"What are you doing?" the man cried out. "You'll lead them right here!"

"You had to hear them try to get in," said Shepard. "It seems like it's hard to hide from the Collectors."

"Those things are Collectors?" asked the man. "You mean … they're real? I thought they were just made up. Propaganda, you know … to keep us in Alliance space." Then he panicked at the realization. "Oh no! They got Lilith! I saw her go down! Stan too! They got damn near everybody!"

"What's your name? What do you do here?" asked Shepard, trying to get an idea of who they were talking too.

"My name's Delan, mechanic," replied the man. "I came down here to check on the main grid after we lost our com signal. I heard screaming. I looked outside and there were swarms … of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. I sealed the doors." Then he paused, shaking his head rapidly, a look of anger coming over his face. "Dammit, it's the Alliance's fault! They stationed that Chief Williams here and built those damn defense towers! It made us a target!"

_She's here_, he thought, anticipation building inside of him. _Ashley is here!_ He could hardly believe it; even though he had already been told she would be here, it did not seem real until now. _Best to keep Delan talking_, he thought. He wanted to be certain. He also wanted to know if she had been taken by the Collectors.

"Tell me more about this Alliance rep," he said neutrally.

"Chief Williams?" asked Delan. "I heard she was some kind of hero. Don't mean nothing to me, though. I'd rather she stayed back in Council space."

Shepard fought the urge to pummel Delan into paste. _How dare he disrespect her?_ he thought. But he kept his cool, never once showing either his team or this loser any indication of his anger.

"Any idea what she was doing on Horizon?" he asked, keeping the conversation going.

"She was supposed to be helping us get the defense towers up and running," said Delan. "I get the feeling she was here for something else; spying on us maybe."

_Don't flatter yourself_, Shepard thought. They'd never send anyone as high profile as Ashley out to spy on rednecks in the galactic backwoods. But the defense towers Delan mentioned; _that_ interested him. The means of taking out that Collector ship may have just presented itself.

"A gift from the Alliance," Delan said sarcastically. "High powered Guardian lasers. Supposed to keep enemy ships from landing near the colony. Had to build a massive underground generator just to give it enough juice! Only we could never get the targeting systems online. So the Alliance gave us a giant gun that couldn't shoot straight! Sons of bitches."

"Why do you think that this is the Alliance's fault?" Shepard asked, putting aside Delan's comments on the defenses for a moment. The hate for the Alliance really surprised him.

"We're just a small colony," the mechanic explained. "Nobody paid attention to us until we built those damn defense towers and drew attention to ourselves. I left Council space to get away from the Alliance. Nothing good ever comes from getting mixed up with them!"

"The Collectors are targeting remote colonies," countered Shepard, actually pleased to see concrete actions against the Collectors having been taken by the Alliance.

"I don't need their help," spat Delan. "Too many strings attacked. That rep said she was here to get the towers online, but mark my word, there's more to it than that!"

The Illusive Man had said as much, and his own encounter with Anderson hinted at that as well. But enough about that; Delan was a bitter ass, fixated on his hatred of the Alliance. Nothing more of use would come from further questioning.

"We can use those defenses against the Collectors," Shepard observed.

"You'd have to calibrate the targeting system first," countered Delan. "It's never worked right."

"We should be able to figure it out," said Garrus. "Just tell us where to find it."

"Just head to the main transmitter on the other side," said Delan. "Pretty hard to miss. The targeting controls are at the base."

"It's probably better if you just stay out of the way," said Shepard, not wanting to suffer the bitter Delan's company for a second longer."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," said Delan. "I'll let you out, but I'm locking the door behind you; I'm not taking any chances. Good luck. I think you're gonna need it."

_Coward_, thought Shepard as they left.

They headed towards the communication tower as Delan had directed, and it did not take long for them to encounter a fourth, and even more powerful wave of enemies.

Now, not only were there Collectors and the presence of Harbinger among them, but also a pair of creatures that resembled large, lumbering husks carrying large, bio-mechanical sac-like weapons that fired powerful biotic shockwaves.

"Scions," announced Miranda. "Watch out for the cannon!"

Apparently, Cerberus had some intelligence on the creatures. Regardless, Shepard had already figured out that the cannon was bad. With the creatures providing heavy fire support to the Collectors, the fight was more time consuming. The blasts tended to rip through their shields, not only causing damage to their armor, but also leaving them vulnerable to the drones' particle beam rifles. This forced them to do much of their fighting from cover. Again, Harbinger taunted Shepard. Each time they killed the Collector that served as Harbinger's vessel, the entity possessed another drone a few moments later. But no matter; the three were more than a match for the twenty that they faced.

Finally, they moved into the courtyard where the transmission towers and defense towers were located. The Collector ship was practically on top of them. If they could get those guns going, they would have clear shooting. Now that Shepard was on the offensive and could see it clearly, it was not as big as he had first thought. From the courtyard, they estimated that it was roughly a kilometer in length, probably just under half the length of Sovereign. _We can take them_, he thought. _We took Sovereign, we can take you_.

Of course, a wave of husks and Scions awaited them, this time with no Collectors in the mix whatsoever. Waves of husks swarmed them as the pair of Scions fired at them. Shepard was getting a feel for their tactics. They were tough, but their tactics were not sophisticated, relaying on numbers and heavy weapons. Soon, Shepard, Miranda, and Garrus had dispatched the last of them. Now to get the defense towers operational.

It did not take long for them to get Edi into the defense towers' targeting system, but while she brought the generators online, they had to face several waves of Collectors, Collectors mixed with husks, and after those had been defeated, a floating clamshell-beetle looking construct that carried what looked like husks fused together inside of it, presumably using them to further terrorize the Collector's enemies. It's attacks, consisting of a powerful particle beam and a seismic pulse attack, where the construct lands very hard on the ground causing a tremor that knocks down opponents, and then sets off a powerful energy pulse. The construct's barrier and armor made very, very difficult to kill without having to face its devastating offensive arsenal. Combine with the construct's offenses, the creature was one of the toughest single foes Shepard had ever faced.

But defeat it they did, and as the construct fell, the generators reached full power, charging up the lasers and firing devastating blasts at the massive Collector ship. The Collectors, never having faced any real resistance, finally fled the scene. Having already loaded half the colony, Harbinger decided on cutting their losses. The blast from ship's engines sent a powerful shockwave through the colony as it took off, almost knocking Shepard down.

As it ascended into the sky, Delan suddenly appeared.

Miranda shook her head as the cowardly and embittered mechanic began shouting at the very man who had just saved the Colony from utter destruction. Yes, the Collectors had gotten half the colony, but were it not for Shepard, they'd have gotten the whole colony. Miranda was tough and powerful, but without Shepard, they never would have defeated the Collector forces. She had never been so close to death so frequently in such a short period of time. And when that last menace attacked them, she thought for sure that they were done for. Shepard had knocked her out of the way and taken the full force of the particle beam for as long as his shields could endure, shooting all the while, until finally taking cover and sniping it with a rocket launcher as Garrus and she tried desperately to chip away at and warp its barriers and armor. To see this beneficiary of Shepard's efforts verbally assaulting him made her want to shoot him herself. She felt blood on her lips, and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and joined Shepard.

"No! Don't let 'em get away," Delan kept shouting, as if Shepard could take down the roughly kilometer long Collector Cruiser that was at this point leaving the atmosphere with hand held weaponry. "You've gotta do something! They have half the colony!"

"There's nothing I can do," said Shepard with frustration as the Collectors sailed away with their ill-gotten haul of human flesh. "I didn't want it to end this way," he continued darkly. "I did everything I could."

"More than anyone else has, Shepard," said Garrus.

"Wait, I know that name," said Delan, as recognition came to his face. "Sure, I remember you. You're some kind of bit Alliance hero."

"Commander Shepard," said Ashley, stepping into the courtyard. "Captain of the Normandy, first human Spectre, savior of the Citadel."

_Yes!_ Miranda could not help but cheer inside for Shepard. _You tell that insect who he's dealing with!_ _After what we've just gone through, you deserve this, Shepard. You deserve to be reunited with the woman you love_. Ashley walked right up to Delan, put her hands on her hip and said,

"You're in the presence of a god, Delan. **B**ack from the dead."

"All the good people we lost and you get left behind," groused the ungrateful Delan, waving them off. "Screw this! I'm done with you Alliance types."

As the ungrateful mechanic walked off, Ashley embraced Shepard, laying her head against his shoulder. Shepard held her tightly. At last, his world was complete. Miranda felt a twinge of jealousy; Shepard loved that girl. Miranda had never experienced a relationship like the one he had with Ashley. But she could not help but feel happy for him. Shepard had actually turned back the Collectors! He had proven that they could do it! Happiness was not too much to ask for. But as quickly as the reward had come, Ashley took it away.

"I thought you were dead Shepard," she said admonishingly, pulling away from him. "We all did."

"It's been too long, Ash," Shepard said cheerfully, a broad smile still on his face. He was so happy just to hold her in his arms that he missed the changes in her body language and the tone of her voice. Miranda cringed as Shepard said,

"How've you been?" That was when Ashley turned on him.

"That's it?" she exclaimed, her voice having that quiet, intense quality that only comes from deep anger and resentment. "You show up after two years and act like nothing's happened?" She moved closer to him, but there was no closeness; only bitterness, disappointment, and admonishment. "We had something, Shepard. Something real. I … loved you. I thought you were dead. I almost …" Then she stiffened and backed away, Shepard looking bewildered. "How could you put me through that?"

Miranda felt her own heart sink just watching the exchange. _As if he had a choice_, Miranda thought, but she held her tongue. It would only make things worse if she did not. Ashley did not let up.

"Why didn't you contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?"

Shepard held up his hand to pause Ashley's stream of questions. Miranda thought he gave a perfectly reasonable answer too.

"Not my choice," he said. "I spent two years in some kind of coma while Cerberus rebuilt me. I tried to contact you, but everything bounced back. I went to Anderson, but he refused to help me."

Ashley's face filled with deep sadness, and then with rage.

"You're with Cerberus now?" she hissed. "Garrus too? I can't believe the reports were right."

"Reports?" asked Garrus with surprise. "You mean you already knew?"

"Alliance intel said that Cerberus might be behind our missing colonies," she said, softening her tone with Garrus. "We got a tip that this one could be next to get hit."

Miranda could not believe how stupid the Alliance was. _Cerberus behind the missing colonies; really?_ She did wonder, however, where the tip might have come from. _Poor Shepard_, she thought. He was still trying to recover from Ashley's rejection and process what she was saying. He was already clearly upset about the Collectors taking half the colony. Ashley was just making it worse.

"I went to Anderson, but he wouldn't talk," Ashley continued. Then she turned back to Shepard, her voice again taking on an accusatory tone. "But there were rumors that you weren't dead. Worse, that you were working for the enemy."

"Cerberus and I want the same thing; to save our colonies," Shepard explained. "That doesn't mean I answer to them."

_If only she knew just how true that was_, Miranda thought. But Ashley would have none of it, and exploded. She got very close, almost in his face, as though things were leading to a physical confrontation.

"Do you really believe that? Or is that just what Cerberus wants you to think?" Her face was livid, her body shaking as she half yelled at him. "I wanted to believe that you were alive … I just never expected anything like this!" Then she hardened. Her face went from disappointment and shock to an angry sneer. "How could you just turn your back on all of us? You betrayed the Alliance. Anderson! You betrayed me."

Shepard shook his head, still not a hint of anger on his face. _He still loves her_, Miranda thought. _He wants her to understand_. But she knew his efforts would come to naught.

"Ash, you know me," he implored. "You know I'd only do this for the right reason. The Collectors are targeting human colonies. And they're working for the Reapers."

"I'd like to believe you," she said emphatically, "but I don't trust Cerberus. And it worries me that you do. What did they do to you? What if they're behind it? What if they're the ones working with the Collectors?"

"Dammit Williams," Garrus scolded, "you're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat!"

"Typical Alliance attitude," said Miranda snidely, unable to hold her peace any longer.

"You're letting how you feel about their history get in the way of facts," explained Shepard earnestly, not a hint of reprisal in his voice.

"Or maybe you feel like you owe Cerberus because they saved you," she retorted, ignoring every fact Shepard had just given her. "Maybe it's you. Doesn't matter; I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier. It's in my blood." Then she turned and walked away, saying, "I'm reporting back to the Citadel. Let them decide if they believe your story."

"I've already been to the Citadel and told them my story," he countered. "They reinstated my Spectre status and ignored the threat. Again. Just like they ignored it two years ago. You were there; you know what they did." Then he reached out to her. "It doesn't have to be like this, Ash. I could use someone like you on my crew. It'll be just like old times."

"No, it won't," she replied, stopping and turning back momentarily. "I'm no fan of aliens, but Cerberus has a history of being extremist. I'll never work for a group like that." Then her expression softened just a little, and she said, "Good bye, Shepard. Just … be careful." And with that, she walked away for good.

Shepard's face darkened and his body stiffened. Now, he was upset. Miranda thought he might go after her, and try to make her listen, but instead, he radioed the Normandy.

"Joker, send a shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this colony." His voice had the tone that told Miranda that he was done with trying to convince Ashley.

She resisted the urge to hug him; best to remain professional while in the field. She could still not believe Ashley saying that she disliked aliens right in front of Garrus, who had been on her team against Sovereign.

"Hypocritical bitch," Miranda muttered under her breath.

The shuttle could not get there fast enough for Shepard. During the exchange with Ashley … and he could not think of what else to call it … he had been so caught up with seeing her again, he just tried to answer her questions. But now that she had walked off, leaving him standing there with Miranda and Garrus, her words sank in. Ashley had called him a traitor. She had questioned his character at the deepest levels. And she had listened to absolutely nothing he said to her. No matter how he tried to explain, she was not interested. It was not that she did not understand; she did. But she did not care. He clenched his fists tightly, his body tense with anger. _We did have something_, he thought, _something real. And you just threw it away, Ash._


	6. Chapter 6: Personal Matters

**Chapter 6: Personal Matters**

Shepard was quiet the entire ride back. Miranda and Garrus tried to engage him in conversation, but he was not interested. He was still processing what had happened. Most of what they said to him seemed to blend in with the background noise. Finally, they just stopped trying. He still tried to wrap hi head around Ashley's turning on him. She was there, two years ago, when Udina had the Normandy locked out. While Udina and the Council played politics, trying to deny the Reaper threat, Shepard, Ashley, Garrus, and Anderson had cooked up a scheme to unlock the ship systems. Shepard and his crew then stole the Normandy and flew to Ilos. Technically, what they did was treason. And it had cost him a promotion. Only the appearance and Shepard's subsequent defeat of Sovereign had prevented court marshals for Anderson, Ashley, and himself. How could she not see that the Council and the Alliance brass were right back to doing the same thing?

The shuttle docked and Shepard wordlessly stormed out of the shuttle and directly to the lift. Miranda looked at Garrus, but Garrus shook his head.

"Talk to him later," Garrus warned. "You know he and Ashley were making wedding plans before he got spaced, don't you? It's been two years for the rest of us; time enough for Ashley grieve and move on, only to have old wounds reopened with Shepard's return. For Shepard, though, she's the woman he had been discussing honeymoon plans with five minutes before the Collectors blew up the ship."

"I knew they were lovers," confessed Miranda, "but I didn't realize it was that serious."

"He'll never forgive her for this," said Garrus. "She said she's an Alliance soldier and that it's in her blood; she doesn't know the meaning. For Shepard, the Alliance is literally all he's ever known. Hell, he grew up on ships with his parents. His father died in service to the Alliance and his mother's a captain." Garrus shook his head. "He didn't get that Star of Terra for letting his unit die and getting picked up as a sidekick by some captain; he saved his unit and thousands of civilians by holding the breach in the colony defenses himself, ordering his very small company of men to help get women and children to safety. Ash couldn't possibly understand or know." Then his eyes took on a fierce intensity. "And to have seen the Alliance tear apart everything he said, even before he was declared dead? She should have listened to him! She should have understood. Instead, she basically just called him a traitor. She threw away the only man who'll ever truly love her when she did that."

"Will he be alright?"

"You mean will he be able to get his head together for the mission?" Garrus asked with annoyance. "Shepard will do what has to be done, no matter the personal cost. So don't even think about questioning him." Garrus began to walk away, but then he turned back and said, "Oh, and don't worry; we'll figure out how Ashley and the Alliance got their hands on information that Shepard's mission involved Cerberus. And when we do, you and your Illusive man had better have some answers."

She opened her mouth to respond, but he was already walking away again, saying, "Don't screw with him, Miranda. You mess with him, you mess with me."

"I really do care that he's alright," she said quietly to no one as Garrus boarded the lift. She had also wondered about the reports that Ashley had mentioned. Miranda had no knowledge of them, and unless the Alliance had a mole implanted in Cerberus, there would be no way for them to know. _But I will find out for myself_, she thought.

Shepard had changed back into his uniform and had entered the conference room. He touched the activation key on the table and it sank into the floor, revealing the QEC transmission pad. The lights dimmed to near total darkness as Shepard stepped onto the pad, the QEC system mapping his image. Momentarily, the room was dimly lit by the Illusive Man's life sized image, appearing before Shepard, seated in his chair, a planetary vista behind him. In the man's hand was his usual lit cigarette.

"Shepard, good work on Horizon," said the Illusive Man. "Hopefully, the Collectors will think twice before attacking another colony."

Shepard held up his hand and shook his head. "It's not a victory. We interrupted the Collectors, but they still abducted half the colony."

"That's better than an entire colony," the man countered. "And more than we've accomplished since the abductions began. The Collectors will be more careful now, but I think we can find another way to lure them in."

"Ash said the Alliance got a tip about me working with Cerberus," Shepard noted. "Was that you?"

"I may have let it slip that you were alive and working with Cerberus," confirmed the man.

_Ashley was already primed and ready to be angry_, he thought. _No wonder she was skeptical_. Still, given what they had been through, he could never forgive Ashley for shutting him out and then lashing out at him. But that did not let the Illusive Man off the hook.

"You risked the lives of my friend, my crew, and an entire colony? Just to lure the Collectors there?"

"A calculated risk," confirmed the Illusive man again, his voice still calm. "I suspected the Collectors were looking for you or people connected to you. Now I know for certain."

Shepard began to respond, but the Illusive Man cut him off.

"I told you I wouldn't wait while the Collectors and the Reapers gathered strength. Besides, they would have hit another colony eventually. Without a way to predict which one, they would've abducted everyone."

Shepard wanted to tear into the Illusive Man, but the Cerberus leader's logic was solid; as painful as it was, they had actually saved a lot of lives because of what the Illusive Man had done. He just wished that he had been in the loop regarding the release of information on the mission. He wondered if Miranda knew, not that it mattered, though it would have been nice for her to said something to him if she did. Enough of this.

"We have to make sure they don't abduct anyone else."

"I want the Collectors stopped for that very reason. That's why we're doing this, Shepard. I'm devoting all resources to finding a way through the Omega 4 Relay. We have to hit them where they live." Then he shifted in his chair and assumed a more familiar posture. "Your team will need to be strong, as will their resolve. There's no looking back. The same goes for you. Can I assume you've put your past relationships behind you?"

"None of your damn business," replied Shepard bluntly, making a sharp, dismissive gesture his right hand to emphasize the point.

"If it affects the mission, better you should leave it behind," said the Illusive Man as he crushed out his cigarette. "Shepard, once we find a way through the Omega 4 Relay to the Collector homeworld, there's no guarantee you'll return. To have any hope of survival, you - and your entire team, must be fully committed to this."

"Let me worry about them," said Shepard, always annoyed with far away people trying to micromanage him while in the field. "You just find us a way to the Collector homeworld."

"I just want to be up front about your odds. You'll need everyone at their best. I've forwarded three more dossiers. Keep building your team while I find a way through the Omega 4 Relay. And be careful Shepard; the Collectors will be watching you."

With that, the Illusive Man picked up a remote and cut the connection. Shepard stepped off of the pad and the table reemerged from the floor, the lights returning to their normal intensity. The door opened, revealing Jacob standing in the hallway, his arms crossed, and a serious expression on his face.

"I guess we're really gonna do it," he said. "Hit the Omega 4 Relay and take the fight to the Collectors in person." He then walked up to Shepard, saying, "Looking forward to the action. But after seeing what those bastards did on Horizon … makes you think."

"They're powerful," said Shepard, "but we've got a few tricks for them. If anyone can stop them, we can."

"No argument there, Commander," agreed Jacob. "Horizon just made it hit home; what we're doing, what we're up against." Then he shifted a little, looking down, and continued. "Gonna go take care of a little unfinished business. Imagine everyone else is too – getting some closure, you know?"

Jacob walked off, clearly a lot on his mind. Shepard contemplated the operative's ominous words; unfinished business. What was he doing waiting outside the door for him? Chances were that he simply wanted to catch Shepard to talk to him, but what … unfinished business was the operative referring to? He had liked Jacob, and trusted him from the start, but now he wondered if he needed to watch out for the man.

_Imagine everyone else is too – getting some closure, you know_. That meant personal matters. And Jacob was not just speaking in generalities. He had something specific in mind, and probably had some idea of what some of the others might want to take care of before embarking on a suicide mission. While Shepard could understand wanting to take care of things, he was not sure that the mission would allow for it. He decided to wait and let people come to him before worrying about it. Right now, though, he had a lot of his own personal matters to consider.

He walked through the tech-lab foyer and out into the CIC to check in with the Yeoman. Kelly Chambers greeted him warmly as always. The girl had been flirty with him from the moment he had stepped aboard, and just gushing with admiration. He still had not gotten used to the hero worship that had become a regular part of his life since the Blitz, but he had learned to deal with it.

"I saw the reports on Horizon, Commander," she said, her voice filled with admiration. "What you was amazing! The report mentioned that Ashley Williams was there. How did that go?"

"We've been through a lot," he said, putting on a more casual air, and disguising just how much it had hurt him. "I wish we could have had more time together." That was true; maybe things would have ended differently.

"Do you have strong feelings for her?"

"Ashley's an incredible woman. I didn't like saying goodbye."

"I'm sorry. Parting ways with someone so close is never easy."

"I appreciate that," he replied. "But I'll be okay."

"How may I help you, Commander," asked the Yeoman, resuming a still friendly, but more professional tone.

"Is there anything I should know?"

"Nothing right now, Commander."

"Thanks. I'll be in my cabin for a while. I've got some things to process."

"Yes, Sir. If you need anything …"

"I'll let you know, Kelly."

Right now, he just needed some time alone. He eschewed his normal visit to the bridge after a mission; Joker would have something to say about Ashley, but right now, he did not want to hear anything about Ashley.

Miranda sat and stared at the message on the screen. She could not believe it. After everything she had done, as hard as she had worked, Doctor Henry Lawson had managed undo her efforts. She was torn. The Mission came first, of course; if Shepard did not succeed, and she was convinced that he was the only one who could, then none of this would matter. Also, it was highly personal. She had grown to like Shepard, and even to trust him, but was not quite ready to share this much of herself. Time, however, was not on her side, and to take care of this, she would need help. And Shepard was the only one she trusted enough to help her on this.

"I have to ask him," she said aloud with resignation.

Shepard sat in his cabin in silence contemplating the events on Horizon and the words of his former lover. The more he thought about it, the more it hurt. _Did she really know me so little? _he asked himself. He had thought that she knew him at his deepest levels, but as it turned out, she did not know him at all. _We had something, Shepard. Something real_, she had said. But she was wrong. They never had anything; it was all illusory. She had been his illusive woman. Everything he was, he had shared with her, and everything he had he had given to her. He thought she had done the same, but it was all … illusive. She faked her emotions by quoting writers of deep thought, feigning an inability to express herself. But when it came time to be hurtful, the her deception was undone; she had no trouble whatsoever expressing herself.

Two years had gone by, but he was right back where he was after the events of Eden Prime; facing a galactic foe and fighting the denial of the Alliance and the Council. And Anderson – what a disappointment he turned out to be. He could have _told_ Ashley that Shepard had tried to contact her. But maybe it was for the best; better to find out where he stood now. Now, he could focus all of his efforts against the Collectors without the distraction of a love based on lies.

He stood abruptly, satisfied with having processed the events on Horizon, and exited his cabin, heading to the CIC.

"Is there anything I should know?" he asked Kelly. It was pure laziness on his part; he could check his terminal anytime he wanted, but right now, he decided that he liked being free from the computer screen.

"Operative Taylor would like to see you in the armory. Operative Lawson would like to see you in her cabin. Anything else?"

"Thanks; nothing more."

Shepard then went to the cockpit to see Joker.

"Hey Commander," said Joker tentatively as Shepard entered. "It's uh … pretty crazy the people you can run into out here, huh? I mean it was probably just a set up or something, but it was pretty good to see Ash – Operations Chief Williams, wasn't it?"

"She moved on. I can't blame her." Shepard was not going to say anymore. He had moved on now too.

"She was front line with you blowing up half the Citadel and I'm the one who gets roped back into saving the galaxy? What? Did somebody switch our files?"

"You're the force that pulls it all together, Joker."

"Yeah, sucks, I can tell you that."

"That's it for now," said Shepard. _Time to go see Jacob and Miranda_.

Miranda's door chimed. She knew exactly who it was as she signaled it to open.

"Shepard, I find myself in the unpleasant position of asking for your help," she began tentatively. "I don't like discussing personal matters, but this is important."

"Miranda, you're one of my crew," he replied, as if that answered everything. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"You remember when I told you about my father building a dynasty? There was another reason I went to Cerberus for protection."

Miranda stood up and walked out from behind her desk. Shepard was here, listening to her. The desk made it like she was making a formal leave request or something. But this was not formal; it was personal. And it was about family. She recalled her own observation that to Shepard, his crew was his family. While she had been a part of his crew since the mission began, it had been something that was imposed upon him from outside. But the way he said it now, she was no longer a 'them' placed here to safeguard Cerberus' priorities; she was part of his crew, his family. It would have seemed odd were it anyone else, but she felt a connection to the war hero. She walked over to the chairs by the window and signaled for him to join her. He walked over, but neither of them sat down. Miranda was too nervous about what was going on to relax, while Shepard stood patiently, waiting for her before taking a seat.

"I have a sister – a twin, and he's still hunting her. Cerberus has kept her safe … until now. She's living a normal life on Illium, safe, and hidden from my father."

"So, you think your father has tracked her down."

She realized that she had been holding her breath, only exhaling when she spoke, then holding it again. _Got to relax_, she thought. _He's listening to you, just as you had hoped_.

"Precisely, Commander," she said, noticeably less tense now that Shepard seemed receptive. "My sources indicate that he knows that she's on Illium. I've tried to keep her hidden without impacting her life, but I'm out of options. He's too close. I need to relocate my sister's family before it's too late."

"What do you know about your sister?"

"She's my genetic twin – we're identical. But she deserves a normal life, and she's going to get it no matter what."

"Does your sister's family know about this? Are they okay with being relocated?"

"They know nothing. They're completely uninvolved; normal. I talked to Cerberus, and they're coming up with a positive reason to move the family."

"What do you need me to do?"

Miranda had expected Shepard to balk at her request, or at least to deliberate, but no. He could see how important this was to her, and he offered to help without hesitation, and without condition. _No wonder they loved him on the old Normandy_, she thought.

"My father is extremely persistent. I'd like to go to Illium when Cerberus is moving the family to make sure none of his agents get to close. My contact's name is Lantea. She'll be waiting for us in the lounge near the Nos Astra docking bay."

"Send me the details," he replied. I'll make sure we're there for the move."

Finally, she could sit back down, the weight lifted from her. "Thank you, Shepard," she said. "This means a lot to me."


	7. Chapter 7: Illium

**Chapter 7: Illium**

Before going to Illium, Commander Shepard had taken on Jacob's request to look into the beacon activated by his father's lost ship, the MSV Hugo Guernsback. Expecting to find nothing more than dusty old bones, they were shocked to find that Captain Ronald Taylor had killed all of his fellow officers and subjected his female crew to eating toxic food that weakened their will and dulled their minds. Having set himself up as a king with a harem, he only signaled when exiled male crewmembers returned and began systematically attacking him and his remaining men.

Ten years lost, only to be found in the act of one of the most heinous crimes of the past century, Captain Ronald Taylor was secured for an Alliance court, the Normandy taking off before the Alliance vessels arrived. The information about the beacon had been forwarded to Jacob stealthily, and initially, Jacob and Shepard had thought that it was the Illusive Man. Both were surprised when Miranda stepped forward, saying,

"I did. It seemed like keeping an old promise, Jacob. I keep my promises."

After Jacob thanked Shepard and returned to his duties, Shepard was left with more questions about Miranda than answers. It seemed that every time he learned answers to one set of questions, another set arose to take its place. Miranda was more mysterious than any woman Shepard had ever encountered, and he had encountered many. Somehow, even the Consort did hold the mystery that Miranda held. Actually, he had figured out the Consort a long time ago. She was not complicated; merely wrapped in exotic trappings. Sha'ira went to great pains to appear mysterious, while Miranda really was.

Jacob's parting comment, "Haven't thought about those days in a while. Can't think of what promise she meant; I'm not sure I want to know. She … requires a better man than me," really raised questions. Jacob's words, and the way that he said them, suggested that he and Miranda had a past history that may have involved a romantic element at some point. Either that, or was Jacob perhaps suggesting that Shepard pursue her? That thought was surprisingly tantalizing, but he quickly put it aside; he was done with Ashley, but he was not quite ready to commit to a new relationship, not yet at least. He caught himself smiling at the thought, however.

He returned to his quarters to decompress, but as he rounded the corner from the tech lab into the CIC, Yeoman Chambers informed him that he had a new message at his private terminal. He went to his terminal by the galaxy map and logged on. When he checked his e-mails, he was surprised to see that the new message was indeed from Ashley.

"I'll take it in my quarters," he said, logging off.

He felt his stomach in knots as he rode the lift up to his cabin. His cabin … it was so lavish that it actually detracted from Cerberus' credibility. It was clearly meant to make him feel welcome and comfortable, but it had the opposite effect; Shepard grew up on ships, and he knew that space on a warship was at a premium. Such a lavish cabin in a frigate was unheard of, and foolhardy in his opinion. But he had to admit that it was a damn nice cabin. Given that he had nowhere else to go but the Normandy, he had decided not to complain. Even Miranda's cabin was spacious, however, more like a studio apartment. And while not as spacious as his own, it too was very out of place on a frigate. The king sized beds in both rooms was a waste of space.

He stepped out of the lift as the doors opened, crossing the small corridor and stepping into his cabin. He logged into his terminal and pulled up Ashley's message.

_Shepard,_

_I'm sorry for what I said back on Horizon. When I lost you two years ago, it tore me up. I prayed for you every day. I read a lot of Tennyson, thinking about you, just like I did when my dad passed. And then you came back, and it was like my prayers were answered. But I'm not who I was then, and neither are you._

_I don't know what's true anymore. Part of me can't believe it's really you. I keep going back to that night before Ilos, our night... I haven't let myself think about those memories for more than a year now._

_I wouldn't have expected you to work for Cerberus, but I know why they sent you to Horizon. I saw how many people were lost there, and if anyone can stop the Collectors, you can. I can't go where you're going, but I can wish you luck._

_Just stay alive out there... Skipper. I don't know what the future holds, but I can't lose you a second time._

_-Ash_

He could not believe the audacity of the woman. To pull at his emotions like that was the very last straw. He was never much for the 'slap and tickle' games that a lot of women liked to play, and this was the most egregious version he had ever encountered. He had literally just saved her life, along with everyone else who had not yet been taken. Even that jackass, Delan. He made a mental note to punch that man out if he ever saw him again. As far as Ashley went, he agreed with her;

"You're damn right you're not who you were then," he growled. He then closed the message, highlighted it, and pressed the delete button. "Good riddance."

He spent some time alone, meditating on everything that had happened. He came to no new conclusions; the Collectors were still targeting human colonies and Cerberus was the only group really doing anything about it. The job needed to be done, Shepard was the only one who could do it, and he needed Cerberus' resources in order to do so. But try as he might, his thoughts kept drifting to Miranda.

The Normandy docked at the Nos Astra space port, and Miranda, Shepard, and Jacob disembarked. She did not trust anyone else on this mission other than Shepard and Jacob. Shepard was a necessity; even though it was not customary for both the XO and the captain to be ashore at the same time, the Normandy was not a customary ship, and this was no ordinary mission. Her own side mission, while unrelated, would definitely settle her emotions; MIranda knew that she would be an emotional wreck if Ori was not taken care of before they took on the Collectors. And she definitely wanted Shepard along on this; she would need more than just Jacob and she trusted nobody else aboard the ship enough to involve them.

She was initially alarmed when an Asari concierge approached them with two armed security mechs, but her greeting proved most welcome. It seemed that Liara T'soni was here on Illium, something she and Shepard already knew, and had paid their docking fees. Apparently, she was an information broker. _This could come in handy_, Miranda thought. They entered the port, and Miranda remarked on what a marvel Illium was, but neither Shepard nor Jacob seemed impressed by the bustling port city.

"Corruption hides just beneath the surface," remarked Shepard. "It's like putting beautiful frosting on a cake made from arsenic."

Jacob nodded in agreement, but Miranda, who loved Illium, momentarily bristled at the comment. She thought to say something in response, but they were sidetracked as they walked past the trading kiosks. It seemed that an Asari recognized Shepard and was calling to him.

"You're Commander Shepard?" she asked. "I saw your … I guess you would say your aura. I'd recognize you anywhere." She looked around furtively, and then continued. "I was asked to give you a message if I saw you. It's from a friend you made on Noveria."

"I met a lot of people on Noveria," replied Shepard, somewhat condescendingly. "Could you be more specific?"

"I believe the message itself should make it clear," replied the Asari.

_Oh, brother_, thought Miranda, as everything from lovers to a love child went through her mind. But not in a million years did she expect to hear the message the Asari delivered. The woman's eyes rolled back into her head, and an expression of ecstasy came over her face, her body swaying as she spoke. Her voice took on an otherworldly quality as she recited the message.

"Shepard, we hide. We burrow; we build. But we know that you seek those who soured the songs of our mothers. When the time comes, our voice will join with yours, and our crescendo will burn the darkness clean. Thank you, Shepard. The Rachni will sing again, because of you."

_Oh my God_, thought Miranda, _It's true! He really did release the Rachni Queen! I'd … thought it only a rumor. The implications … but what did she mean by 'those who soured the songs of our mothers?' and that 'our crescendo will burn the darkness clean?' _It was not a threat; on the contrary, it was almost an offer of … alliance?

With her message delivered, the Asari resumed a normal countenance, her eyes refocusing, and her body straightening. She smiled and explained that her ship had been attacked by pirates and that the Rachni had saved her.

"They are an amazing people, Shepard," she concluded. "The galaxy owes you a great debt for giving them a second chance."

"I got that she was grateful," said Shepard, now curious. "But what else was her message saying?"

"That the first Rachni War was a mistake," explained the Asari. "Something soured the voices of her people. In Rachni psychology, that would be like … mind control, I think. It doesn't really translate."

It translated perfectly well for Miranda; Reaper indoctrination. _It had to be_, she thought.

"Anyway, she believes you are fighting the ones who did that," continued the Asari, "and she promises to help."

"She thinks that the Reapers caused the Rachni War?" asked Shepard, echoing Miranda's thoughts.

"I can't say for sure," replied the Asari, "but she is certain that her people were forced into war against their will. Her people are not naturally aggressive; if they made war, it was not of their own doing."

"Thank you for giving me that information," replied Shepard, ending the exchange. "I'm glad that my friend from Noveria is doing well."

"Be well, Commander Shepard. You will not see me again."

With those words, the Asari walked away without a backward glance, leaving the trio to contemplate the ramifications of what she had just told them.

"Shepard," exclaimed Miranda, "if the Reapers caused the Rachni War, then they've been active in the galaxy for far longer than Sovereign's appearance."

"The Rachni War was over a thousand years ago," remarked Jacob. "If the Reapers were involved at that point, that means Sovereign was working behind the scenes for over a millennium!"

"When you live for millions of years," said Shepard, "you can do a millennium of preparation as though it were an afternoon's work. But if my saving the queen means allies in the coming war? I'll take all the allies I can get!"

The three of them walked silently, each pondering what had just happened. Even for the brilliant Miranda, the idea of facing a foe whose machinations spanned epochs, and whose lifespans were unending for all intents and purposes, was difficult to fully comprehend, though she apprehended it quite readily. Her thoughts were again interrupted, however, when another woman called out to Shepard, this one human, and seated at a table alongside the trading floor.

"Shepard?" she exclaimed. "What happened? I thought you were dead! Never mind; probably classified. You'd just have to lie. It's been a couple of years. I'm Gianna Parasini; Noveria Internal Affairs? You helped me nail Administrator Anoleas."

Shepard recognized this woman and joined her at the table. Miranda and Jacob hung back, giving a respectful distance. They spoke for a few minutes, seeming to catch up on things. Gianna was an attractive woman, but not so polished looking as Miranda was. She wore her dark hair up in a bun and while she wore a dress, it was a practical, utilitarian outfit; professional, but something she could move in. She was quite a contrast to the beautiful Miranda. _But that dosn't seem to bother Shepard_, she thought with some displeasure;_ Ashley was much the same, and he had fallen in love with her_. She quickly shook her head. _What does it matter?_ Miranda suddenly asked herself with exasperation, surprised that she would be concerned about such things. Officer Parasini slid him a drink as they talked, then suddenly excused herself, saying,

"And don't forget to drink your beer."

As Gianna Parasini hurried down a side hallway, Shepard downed the glass and then looked at the note Gianna had left on the coaster. He pocketed it and then stood, walking to the Serrice Technologies kiosk, and motioning for Miranda and Jacob to join him. Miranda looked at Jacob, but he just shrugged, not sure what was going on either. They wordlessly followed Shepard to the kiosk and stood by as he began negotiating with the sales rep. He started off with price negotiations. Normal enough, but once he got a discount worked out, he began asking about items not listed on the kiosk. The Asari sales rep looked furtively about, and then leaned in and said quietly,

"There is one thing; very advanced design. Not publicly available yet."

"That's because it's still in development on Noveria, and illegal for expert," interjected Gianna Parasini, sauntering in from the side hallway she had disappeared into earlier. Miranda felt a flash of … she did not know what … jealousy? _No_, she thought. _I don't even have a romantic relationship with the Commander; what do I have to be jealous of?_ But she felt it nonetheless. "Hello, Permia," Gianna said pleasantly, her face looking like that of a cat that caught a canary.

"Parasini," exclaimed Permia, "you set me up! But this isn't Noveria! You don't have the authority to arrest me!"

"I don't care if you go to jail," replied Gianna confidently. "I've got all the evidence I need to fine you out of business."

As it turned out, the special schematic Permia was trying to sell Shepard was a faulty design, leaked intentionally as bait to catch Permia with. As Permia ran off to call her lawyer, Gianna called out,

"Talk fast, Permia! When the fines hit, you won't be able to afford him!" Then she turned to Shepard, an inviting smile on her face. "Ah, that was good. I've got to go file some papers. Come by my table when you've got a minute."

To Jacob's surprise, and Miranda's unexplainable consternation, Shepard did join the Noveria IA officer at her table. They spoke for about ten minutes, and while Miranda was dying to hear what they were saying, she kept a respectful distance, not wanting to intrude on Shepard's private conversation. When they were done, Shepard stood, and Gianna with him, at which point Jacob and Miranda walked over to rejoin the Commander. Gianna stood about a foot away from Shepard, admiring the ruggedly handsome man. Finally, she shrugged and said,

"Ah, hell with it." She leaned in and kissed Shepard on the cheek. Smiling, she said with satisfaction, "Much better than an autograph." She winked at Miranda and walked off.

Miranda could do nothing but fume. Shepard was single; Williams had seen to that, and he had made no overtures to Miranda. The two had no commitment to each other aside from fighting the Collectors. She knew this, but the sight of Parasini kissing her Commander really got under her skin. _'My' Commander?_ she thought. _What the hell am I doing?_

"Come on," said Shepard. "We've wasted enough time; let's make sure Oriana is safe."

Their next stop, however, was Liara T'soni's office, overlooking the trading floor. Though Shepard wanted to go straight to Eternity so they could see to Oriana, Miranda insisted that they visit Liara first.

"She could have information vital to Ori," Miranda said.

"Fair enough," replied Shepard.

They were greeted by Liara's secretary, Nyxeris, a syrupy sweet Asari who poured on the kindness so thick that it raised Shepard's eyebrows. When they entered Liara's office, Liara was speaking to a human man on the vid-com, saying,

"Have you faced an Asari Commando unit before? Few humans have. I'll make it simple; either you pay me, or I flay you alive … with my mind!" When she saw Shepard enter, she immediately cut the connection and gasped, "Shepard! Nyxeris, hold my calls!"

The beautiful Asari ran to Shepard, throwing her arms around him, as he enfolded her in his own. For a moment, Miranda thought that a kiss would follow; Liara most certainly loved him, and the two had a lot of history, but she realized that while Shepard loved her, he was looking at Liara not as a lover, but as a friend, a brother.

"My sources said you were alive, but I never believed … it's good to see you!" Liara took a seat behind her desk, Miranda and Jacob following her every move. Jacob looked at Liara with admiration, clearly taken aback at the ageless beauty of Shepard's former teammate. Miranda shot him a scowl, and he self-consciously collected himself.

"It's good to see you too, Liara," replied Shepard, casually taking a seat in front of the desk. Miranda noticed how easily Shepard could lounge in heavy armor. Most men were uncomfortable doing anything but fighting in armor, but for Shepard, it was like a second skin, and he was as comfortable in it as he was in a bathrobe. She must have been staring, because Jacob elbowed her gently, snickering.

"I'm doing well," declared Liara. "I've been working as an information broker. It's paid the bills since you … well … for the past two years." Then her voice took on a darker tone. "Now you're back, gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus."

"If you know that, then you know that I can use your help," said Shepard, but Liara was not cooperative.

"I can't, Shepard," she declared abruptly. "I'm sorry. I have commitments here; things I need to take care of."

"What kind of things do you need to take care of? Shepard asked admonishingly. "Are you in trouble?"

"No," she replied. Then she spoke at length about her new profession as an information broker, her quest to take down the Shadow Broker, and her friend, Feron, who had been captured by the Broker after they had last tangled. But through it all, T'soni never mentioned _why_ they had tangled; that it was to recover Shepard's body from the Broker, his body that she then handed over to Miranda and Cerberus in the hopes that they could revive the vanquished Commander. In fact, Liara fastidiously avoided eye contact with Miranda throughout the conversation. When Shepard pressed her on the subject of the Broker, Liara became evasive and vague. Finally, Shepard asked her for information about Thane Krios and the Justicar Samara. Liara knew exactly how to find both of them right off the top of her head, remarking that she was a very good information broker when Shepard expressed admiration.

Miranda was somewhat frustrated. The Illusive Man had given her direct orders not to reveal how Shepard had come to be in Cerberus' custody, but letting him know that Liara had brought him would have done much to earn the Commander's trust. Now, Liara could have said something, letting Shepard know while absolving Miranda of any responsibility, but instead, she skirted the subject. In fact, she was so obviously hiding something that Shepard had commented on it and tried to pry, though Liara would not budge. _Dammit_, she thought. _My one opportunity to let him know rested with Liara, and she totally choked on it_. She now truly wanted Shepard to trust her. Before, it was a matter of working together, but now, she wanted him to trust her as a person. She did not know why this was so important to her; she just knew that it was.

"It was good to see you, Liara," said Shepard as they wrapped up. "We'll talk later."

They spent no more time than was necessary with Liara, and were soon on their way to meet Miranda's contact. Liara's evasive behavior was troubling to Shepard, but there was nothing that he could do about that right now. Besides, it was just good to see her again. Gianna, too. He was a bit surprised by Gianna's flirtatiousness, but even more surprised by Miranda's visible jealousy at the sight. They had become friendly since the mission had started, but not romantic. But clearly, the Cerberus operative was jealous! Miranda had also seemed off balance during their meeting with Liara. _Something to talk to her about later_, he thought.

They were soon walking into a private room in the Eternity Lounge, where Miranda's contact, Lanteia awaited them. Lanteia's words, however, set off alarm bells in Shepard's mind and made Miranda visibly nervous.

"Ms. Lawson? I'm glad you made it. We've had a complication."

"What happened," asked Miranda, her confidence visibly fleeing her, her posture going from tall and confident to bent and unsure. "Is Oriana alright?"

"She's fine," said Lanteia reassuringly, causing Miranda to relax a little, "but you listed a man named Niket as your trusted source? He contacted me, warning that your father has sent Eclipse mercenaries to make a sweep." Miranda never mentioned working with Niket, whoever that was, and now, the plans were changing. "He suggested that the mercs might be watching for you personally. He's offered to escort Oriana's family to the terminal instead."

"You didn't mention anything about Niket," interjected Shepard, annoyed with not having mission details shared with him.

"He's a friend," Miranda assured. "He and I go back a long way."

"Do you want to bring in any of your other Illium contacts, Ms. Lawson?"

"No, you and Niket are the only two I trust on this," declared Miranda. That told Shepard that Miranda's father had the ability to compromise Miranda's own network of people, something that Miranda had no doubt spent years building. This was troubling.

"What information do you have about the mercenaries," Shepard asked, wanting to know more about their foe.

"I've confirmed that they're Eclipse, and that they're working for an organization Ms. Lawson warned us about. I could try to alert the authorities, but so far, they've done nothing illegal."

_Great_, thought Shepard; _the mercs can set up and insinuate themselves anywhere they see fit, preparing themselves for us, while I've gotta pull teeth to get information about a mission Miranda asked for my help on. Just great_.

"You made the right decision," affirmed Miranda. "We'll handle this ourselves."

"It's your sister, Miranda," said Shepard, deferring to her. "What do you want to do?"

"Lanteia, we'll follow Niket's suggestion," Miranda said, though Shepard had hoped she would not. "Shepard, Jacob, and I will take the car and draw their attention."

Jacob looked alarmed at this, and Shepard did not blame him. The idea of getting shot at in an unarmed skycar was absurd; they should be taking out the mercs. It would end that way after all was said and done, and as a Spectre, Shepard could kill them to the last man and tell the police that it was none of their business.

"Have Niket escort the family to the shuttle," continued Miranda. "Give him full access to the family's itinerary just to be safe."

_This is a bad idea_, thought Shepard, and he could see in Jacob's expression that he was not alone in his assessment. But Miranda happily and cheerfully made the arrangements with Niket, seemingly oblivious to all of the red flags that this scenario was presenting.

"So the plan is for us to get shot down while your sister gets to safety?" asked Shepard incredulously. "I don't have to remind you that if we die in the process, your sister, and every human being in the galaxy, is as good as dead."

"Eclipse will be under orders to take my sister alive," retorted Miranda. "They won't risk anything that could kill us."

It was clear that she would not be swayed. Shepard considered pushing back, but decided to let it play out. He hoped that it would all go as Miranda seemed to think that it would, but something was not right about this. Something about Niket. He had not even met the man, and he already did not like him.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Shepard announced with resignation.

"Thank you, Shepard. I appreciate this," said Miranda, her voice thick with gratitude and her expression and posture more demure. "I hadn't planned on Eclipse … but they never planned on you."

Shepard did not like this one bit. Oh, dealing with Eclipse did not bother him in the least; he'd already taken down their entire Omega gang, and from a tactically foolish position that was not of his choosing to boot. No, it was Miranda's putting aside her usual careful calculation that really concerned him. Prior to Shepard's taking command of the new Normandy, Miranda had been the leader of the Lazarus Cell. She was the leader precisely because of her ability to plan and to lead. Now, she was being jerked around by some guy who, in Shepard's opinion, was questionable at best. This was not good.

They paid another visit to Liara, but she had no information relevant to Miranda's mission that they did not already have. Liara did, however, convince Shepard to hack a number of terminals around the transport hub where they were heading. Shepard opted to wait until after Oriana was safe; Liara's vendetta against the Broker was much less urgent than the safety of Miranda's sister. The entire walk from Liara's office to the transport hub, Miranda fidgeted and made nervous small talk. It was very, very unlike her.

"Miranda, it'll be alright," he said reassuringly. "Don't worry; we'll take care of Eclipse and Oriana will be safe."

"Shepard, you don't understand …"

"Yes, I do," he said, cutting her off. "You don't think I've ever needed to save someone close to me? I know what you're going through, Miranda." He stopped in front of her, turning and gently grasping her upper arms. "And I promise you that Oriana will be safe. You have my word."

She looked down at the floor for a moment, and then looked back up at him, her eyes filled with tears. He really had not expected her to get this emotional, though now that he thought about it, it made sense. It also explained her inability to pay attention to the small details and warning signs that Shepard and Jacob were both picking up. Miranda had given him only the most cursory description of what had happened with her sister when they were growing up. Certainly, there was a lot more, and Miranda was deeply invested in Oriana.

"Do you mean that?"

"Yes, I do," he affirmed. "I promise you, we'll make sure she's safe. But you need to focus. This whole thing has you off kilter, and you're making mistakes that I've never seen you make."

"Mistakes? Like what?" Miranda was very defensive.

"Like agreeing to Niket's plan without so much as a second thought," replied Shepard. "You know him from your teen years, Miranda. When did you see him last?"

"Not recently," she confessed. "But we have spoken. The last time we spoke was when I told him about rescuing Oriana. There's no way he'd betray me, Shepard."

"Maybe not, but he's not the best source of tactical advice either," Shepard retorted.

"Dammit, you're right, Shepard."

He was surprised when she leaned in and hugged him tightly, pressing her head against the chest piece of his armor. Reflexively, he returned her hug. From here, he could smell the fragrance of her hair, and he could feel the softness of her body. Then just as suddenly, she pulled away.

"Thank you, Shepard," she said, her former confidence regained. "I needed that. Okay – no more uncertainty. Back to doing things the way I've been trained."

"Then let's so," he said with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8: The Prodigal

**Chapter 8: The Prodigal**

"Damn it," Miranda exclaimed as they found themselves in the midst of numerous gunships, all bearing the Eclipse logo. "Eclipse mercenary gunships. They'll be dropping troops in the cargo areas." They saw one land in an open area ahead, unloading men even as she spoke. Then another gunship began firing on them, trying to force them into the open area. The skycar was unarmed, so Miranda did not even try to fight them.

"Put us down in that cover behind them," said Shepard, already evaluating the situation and planning ahead.

"Let's hope they really do want to take us alive," said Miranda with concern.

Forced down by the gunship, Miranda was glad that neither Shepard nor Jacob made any 'told you so' remarks as the car made a rather ugly landing. She did, however manage to land it behind the cover Shepard had directed her to.

When they got out, they were confronted by an Eclipse lieutenant, a human. He wore the energy armor that marked him as a sentinel; a biotic combat engineer. He was flanked by about twenty men, some human, some Salarian. Additionally, she saw that they had snipers lined up. She was alarmed at this, and she realized that Shepard had noticed them too, though he was the definition of cool under pressure, giving away nothing. _Could be trouble_, she thought.

"I got this," the lieutenant said to one of his men, who were eager to charge in.

"Since you're not firing, I trust you know who I am," said Miranda.

"Yeah, they said you'd be in the car," he confirmed. "You're the bitch that kidnapped our boss's little girl."

She wondered how they knew that she and her fire-team would be in the car, but that had to wait.

"Kidnapped?" she asked. "This doesn't involve you. I suggest you take your men and go."

"You think you've got it all lined up, huh?" the merc taunted. "Captain Enyala's already movin' in on the kid. She knows about Niket – he won't be helping you."

"What do you mean, Niket won't be helping us?" asked Shepard as he observed the mercs.

"Nothin' you need to worry about," replied the merc. "Nobody's going to get killed unless you do something stupid." The merc moved closer to Shepard. "You walk away now, the girl goes back to her father, everybody's happy."

"Everybody but my sister … and me," retorted Miranda. She was about to say more, but she noticed that Shepard had stopped looking around and had narrowed in on the merc lieutenant. He's ready to move, she thought, though she did not see how they were going to get out of this; they had their backs to the wall and were surrounded by a superior force with superior position.

"I'm giving you one chance to leave," announced the Commander. "That's more than most get."

"Captain Enyala ordered us to give you one chance to leave," growled the Lieutenant. "But this whole time we've been talking, my men have been lining up shots." He got right up in Shepard's face. "When I say the word, we unleash hell on your squad. So I suggest you walk away nicely unless you want things to get ugly."

Without warning, Shepard slugged him in the gut and snapped his neck. He looked up at a large shipping crate being moved overhead, and motioned to Miranda to shoot it, which she did, bringing it down on top of thee of the mercs. Jacob took out the four right around them. Then the firefight began, though it ended almost as soon as it began, as Shepard deftly took out merc after merc. He seemed to dance through the battlefield, shooting them, but instinctively being 'not there' when they fired back. When the last one fell, she picked up one of their communicators.

Thus far, Shepard had waded into battle for her without having much in the way of information. She had withheld a lot from him, but now, she felt like she owed him. She wondered if this was how Jacob felt back on the station when he told Shepard that they worked for Cerberus back when the Commander had first woke up. She had accused him of letting his conscience get the better of him, but now, she was about to do the same thing. They stepped into the lift to get to the next location and she told him the truth about Oriana.

"Shepard … I think I owe you an explanation. Oriana is my twin genetically, but my father … grew her when I was a teenager. She was meant to replace me. I couldn't let my father do to her what he did to me … so I rescued her. She's almost a woman now."

"Why didn't you tell me that we were saving a child?" he asked. He did not sound indignant; just puzzled.

"She's not a child," retorted Miranda. "She'll be nineteen this year. But … well, it didn't seem relevant at the time, I suppose. There are people who'd use her against me. I'm very protective when it comes to Oriana." She looked down for a moment and said, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you sooner. You deserved to know."

"If Eclipse knows where Oriana is, they'll be moving in on her soon," said Shepard. "We need to hurry."

"Agreed. I'm a bit worried by what that merc said. If they got to Niket somehow, this is going to be harder than I'd planned."

Miranda then briefed Shepard on the floorplans ahead, making sure to get the information to both Shepard and Jacob's omni tools. Once they made some initial plans, Shepard asked,

"You sure you can trust Niket?"

"Oh, absolutely," Miranda assured him. "I'm sure my father's tried to get to him, but he's one of the few people who knows what my father is really like. He wouldn't sell me out now." Shepard just looked at her, still suspicious of her old friend. It really bothered her that he did not trust Niket. It felt almost like a personal affront; not only was he essentially disrespecting her oldest friend, but he was also questioning her judgment. "You'll see," she said confidently.

"I hope so," said Jacob. "If Niket's been bought, then Oriana's screwed. And so are we."

"That's not gonna happen," barked Shepard. "One way or another, Miranda's sister gets to safety. I made a promise." Then he looked at Miranda and said, "And I keep my promises."

As they fought their way through the Eclipse mercs, Miranda could not help but admire the Commander. He assimilated every new battlefield and adapted, changing up their tactics on the fly. This was Shepard's forte; ground assault. Fighting his way through the Eclipse mercs proved pathetically easy for the war hero, and she could really see how it was that a single man had been able to hold Elysium. Fighting alongside him, her doubts faded from the first moment. And she loved watching him break that obnoxious merc's neck at the start of the mission.

Things went well as far as the fighting went, and tactically, things were seemingly perfect; she had monitored the mercs' activities with the communicator she had picked up, even listening in on Captain Enyala, giving Shepard real-time intel. They finished off another wave of the mercs who were tryong to bar them from the lift to the transport level when she heard Enyala say something that really worried her.

"Niket has reached the terminal. He'll switch the family over to our transport."

"Niket? But … that can't be right." Miranda shook her head. _No_, she thought, _it can't be right_. Jacob shook his head as she fought the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her it was right. Shepard led them into the lift and selected the transport level, not commenting yet about Niket. The lift began moving, playing insipid Muzak.

"Maybe the captain knows that we're listening in and she's feeding us false information about Niket making a switch," she reasoned, but Jacob shook his head again. "Or maybe it means something else," she continued, grasping at straws. "Niket wouldn't do that!" In a fit of frustration and rage, she activated her omni-tool and pounded the car's speaker system, shorting it out. "Damn it! Why doesn't this thing go any faster?"

"What makes you so sure Niket wouldn't turn on you?" Shepard asked, finally weighing in.

"He could have turned on me when I ran away," she explained, desperately wanting to believe in her old friend's loyalty. "I'm sure my father tried to buy him off. If he didn't do it then, why would he do it now?"

"The message on the radio seemed pretty clear," countered Shepard.

"He wouldn't betray me," she declared. "We'll be at the transport shuttle in a moment and we'll clear this all up."

Shepard knew the sound of someone deceiving themselves. He had heard it all his life from one person or another. He liked to think that it was a habit he had not developed, though he knew that he probably did it too to some extent; everyone did, human or no. He really hated saying that it sounded pretty clear, and if gunfire and the safety of Miranda's sister weren't involved, he would have held his tongue. But they were moments away from the transport shuttle, and the time for self-deception was long since passed. He only hoped Miranda would come to her senses before it cost them.

He watched her surface confidence melt into shock and betrayal as the lift doors opened up into the last loading area before the transport shuttle hub. They expected more mercs at this point, but instead, the doors opened to reveal Niket haggling with Enyala over the conditions of the switch over. One of the terminal workers ran, only to be shot by Enyala. They all drew their guns and stood there, pointing their weapons at each other in a Mexican stand-off.

"She needs to die," growled Shepard.

But Miranda was focused on her old friend, and her betrayal at his hands. She was almost oblivious to Enyala, the dead worker, or Shepard and Jacob.

"Miri?" Niket was clearly shocked to be face to face with Miranda. Miri - Shepard decided he liked the diminutive on her.

"Niket," said Miranda, her voice low and filled with resentment, "you sold me out."

"How do you want to handle this, Miranda?" Shepard needed to know, but she was not responding.

"Why, Niket?" she asked, oblivious to Shepard's question. "You were my friend! You helped me get away from my father!"

"Yeah, because you wanted to leave," retorted Niket. "That was your choice. But if I'd known that you'd stolen a baby …"

"I didn't steal her, I rescued her," Miranda exclaimed.

"From a life of wealth and happiness?" asked Niket incredulously. "You weren't saving her; you were getting back at your father!"

But Shepard knew a smoke screen when he saw one. Just like Miranda, Niket was trying more to convinced himself than Miranda of the truth of his words.

"How did Miranda's father turn you?" Shepard asked. No need to mince words

"They told me you kidnapped your baby sister all those years ago," said Niket, directing his answer to Miranda. "They said I could help get her back peacefully, no trauma to the family. I told them you'd never do that; they could go to hell! Then you finally called me and told me what you'd done. I called them back that night."

"Why didn't you call me, Niket?" she cried. "We've been through a lot. You could have at least let me explain." Miranda was an emotional basket case. Shepard knew Niket was full of it, but she still did not see it.

"And I deserved to know that you'd stolen your sister, Miri," he retorted. "I deserved to know that you were with Cerberus, but I had to hear it from your father first!"

_Enough of the bullshit_, thought Shepard. _This is all just moral smoke and mirrors. Time to ask the one question that really matters_:

"How much did Miranda's father pay you?"

And just like that, the moral façade faded, just as Shepard knew it would. Niket's shoulders slumped slightly, and his voice took on a quieter, remorseful tone.

"A great deal," was all he said. No more moral platitudes or attempts to turn the situation around and blame Miranda. _Money … it's always money_.

"Damn it, Niket," Miranda cried, as she realized what was truly at the bottom of it all. "You were the only one I trusted from that life!"

Shepard wanted to holster his gun and hold the poor woman. She was betrayed so completely, her trust completely undone. At this point, tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"He knew you felt that way," Niket confessed. "That's why he bought me."

"So you just took his money," Miranda said with resignation.

"Don't get holy with me," Niket barked indignantly. "You took his money for years!"

_The bastard still has some pride left_, Shepard thought. _We'll fix that soon enough_. But there was no way Shepard was going to allow the moral pissing contest to resume. Time to change the subject.

"If he's working for your father, that means he knows about Oriana," said Shepard, keeping Miranda on point. "We need to find a new solution."

Niket shifted nervously, and then spoke as Captain Enyala shifted about anxiously, keeping her shotgun trained on the trio.

"Miranda's father has no information on Oriana. I knew you had spy programs in your father's system, so I kept it private. I'm the only one who knows."

"Which means that you're the only loose end," said Miranda, her voice tinged with sadness. "This isn't how I wanted to end this Niket. I'm going to miss you …"

She was about to pull the trigger, but as satisfying as it would be to let Miranda shoot Niket between the eyes, Shepard could not let her do it. Miranda did not want to kill this man, and if she did, she would regret it for the rest of her life. Shepard still agonized over Kaiden's death, and that had been necessary command decision, with Kaiden's approval on top of it all. Had he pulled the trigger and killed Kaiden himself, he would never have forgiven himself. _No, I can't let her carry that burden_. He holstered his pistol, to Jacob's surprise, and stayed Miranda's hand.

"Miranda, wait; you don't want to do this!"

"It has to end here, Shepard," replied Miranda. Her tone was even, but her face was still a mask of anger and betrayal. She physically resisted Shepard, but he held her weapon arm fast. "My father will keep trying to find Oriana."

As she finished her sentence, she relaxed against his grip and looked away, Shepard's action having taken some of the edge off of her anger. Surprisingly, she actually holstered her gun. Shepard seized the opportunity for a peaceful solution.

"Maybe Niket can help. Talk to your father," he said. "Just say you got here first." He then looked at Niket. That seemed to get Niket to come around. Perhaps there was some loyalty there after all.

"I'll … I'll tell him you hid her. That I don't know where she is."

"I never want to see you again," Miranda warned, half yelling and half crying, pointing her finger at him.

"Done," boasted the Asari merc captain, shooting Niket in the back. He slumped forward, dead, his spine blown out by the weapon. "Now if you don't mind, I have a shipment to deliver." With that, her body began to shimmer with biotic power and she levitated off of the ground. She was ready to fight, but Miranda took advantage of Enyala's delay.

"You'll die for that, bitch!" cried Miranda, her own biotics now evident as a shimmer around her body. She wound up and threw a powerful blast at Captain Enyala, hurtling her back into the cargo crates. Shepard could not help but admire the beauty and power that the Cerberus operative possessed. _Damned impressive_, he thought. The merc captain recovered quickly, however, and more of her Eclipse troops were pouring into the bay.

Miranda poured all of her anger, frustration, and sadness into the blast, but while it sent Enyala across the bay, it did not kill her. In fact, Enyala's own biotics had kept her relatively unharmed. _He's dead_, she thought over and over again. _He's dead!_ Saving Ori was all she could think of as the firefight erupted around them. She could not believe how gullible she had been Shepard had been right all along, but Miranda simply could not see it.

Enyala proved a tough opponent, and with a force of mercs at her side, it seemed impossible. But Shepard proved more than capable. He seemed to know just where to stand to do the most damage while receiving the least fire, and shot the overhead crates at just the right time to bring them down on the hapless mercs. There were a few sentinels among the Salarian Eclipse members, but the three of them held their own. As Miranda and Jacob used their biotics, Shepard danced through the battlefield, taking mercs out with single shots to the head, his Carnifex pistol more than enough to penetrate their shields and armor. Finally, he closed with the biotic captain.

Miranda took out three mercs with powerful warp field, trying to hurry to Shepard's side, but even a powerful biotic, as Captain Enyala clearly was, was no match for the hero of the Blitz. Whittling down her shields with gunfire and weathering her biotic onslaught, Shepard closed the gap relentlessly, finally closing with her and taking her out in hand to hand combat. When she realized that her biotics were not going to stop him, she brought her shotgun to bear, but it was too late. Shepard struck it aside with his left hand as he drove his right elbow at her left temple. She ducked, only to be caught in the chin by his left uppercut, shattering her jaw and snapping her neck backward, killing her. As Captain Enyala's broken body crumpled to the floor, Miranda shouted out,

"Yes!"

She felt a bit silly; she was a covert operative, not a football fan, but she could not help herself. All of her frustration and anger had been vented, though now that the moment of victory had passed, she had to face the cold truth; she was a failure. Niket had played her right up to the end, and had probably been playing her before she ran. And she never saw it coming. Her father had known exactly who to buy, and where, and for all of her sophistication and training, he could still blindside her. Shepard picked up some trinket that lay on the floor, and then called the lift. One last ride in the elevator, and they would be at the transport shuttle, and it would all be over. Oriana would be safe. As the doors opened, she stepped into the car, her eyes downcast.

"I can't believe Niket sold me out," she lamented, biting back tears. "I didn't even see it coming."

"Even with all your upgrades, you're human; just like the rest of us," Shepard consoled.

"But I let it get personal," she retorted, turning away from him and covering her face with her hand to hide her tears. "And I screwed up." _Can't let him see me cry_, she thought. "Why didn't you let me kill him? I could have handled that. But watching him get gunned down by that Asari bitch …"

"Because you still cared for him," explained Shepard, his voice consoling. "Even if he betrayed you."

"You're right," she conceded, still unable to turn and face him. "And my father knew it. He used that against me." She shook her head in disgust. "It's always been like this. My father gave me anything I ever wanted, but there was always a hook, an angle for his long term plan." She found that in Shepard's presence, her words flowed freely, no hesitation now. Things she had never voiced to any human being besides Niket she was now voicing to Shepard. Finally, she turned around to face him, no longer caring if he saw her tears. "I threw away everything he ever gave me. Except Niket. Weakness on my part."

"You still have Oriana," Shepard offered.

"My father didn't give her to me," she said more tersely than she intended. She softened and continued. "I rescued her. But yes, you're right. I still have something. Thank you."

The lift came to a halt and the doors opened up to the transport shuttle hub. Everything was quiet; no mercs, no visible threats. She began to relax as her adrenaline levels dropped.

"No sign of Eclipse," Miranda remarked with relief. Miranda's heart skipped a beat when she saw Oriana with her family. "There she is. She's safe … with her family."

She felt her eyes misting over at the sight of her sister. The girl was now nineteen, and Miranda had not laid eyes on her since she was a baby. She looked like Miranda, but at the same time, she did not. They were sister; genetically identical, but physically different. She was beautiful … and happy.

"Come on," she said abruptly. "We should go."

"Don't you even want to say hello?" asked Shepard.

"It isn't about what I want," Miranda admonished. "It's about what's right for her. The less she knows about me the better. She's got a family, a life. I'd only complicate that for her."

But Shepard surprised her with has response.

"She doesn't need any details, but would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister who loves her?"

She wondered how was it that the man who snaps spines, breaks necks, and shatters skulls as naturally as breathing was so thoughtful … so insightful … and so caring. She blinked back the tears, only now they were tears of joy; she had never dreamed that she could ever actually meet Oriana as her sister, and get to know her, but Shepard had just made it possible.

"I guess not," she said, trying not to cry.

"Go on," replied Shepard. "We'll wait here."

Miranda nervously went to the sister she had known only as a baby. She had kept tabs on her from afar, but it was all through contacts and electronic surveillance. Ori looked and saw her coming, and their gazes met. A thousand questions were going through Miranda's mind, not the least of which was what her parents, Roger and Amelia Branson, would think. She could not just get rid of them for an hour, or even a few minutes; their shuttle was due at any moment, so Miranda needed to say whatever she was going to say in front of them. Miranda had been with the Cerberus personnel who had arranged the adoption, so they had seen her before, though it had been almost twenty years. To her surprise, they remembered her immediately.

"Ms. Lawson?" Roger half exclaimed and half asked.

"Who is she, Dad?" asked Oriana, confused.

"She's with the agency we adopted you through, Ori," exclaimed Amelia, embracing Miranda.

"Good to see you again, Amelia," replied Miranda as she hugged Ori's mom. _Good_, she thought; _Ori actually knows that she's adopted. That will make this go smoother_.

"This girl has been such a blessing to us," Amelia gushed. "Bright, beautiful, and wonderfully kind. She's … I couldn't have wished for a finer daughter!"

"Indeed," added Roger, "she's a brilliant musician; plays the violin. I see a concert violinist in the future."

"I do play," Oriana said enthusiastically. "I love the Adagio movement of Nielsen's fifth; it's what inspired me to play. But I don't think being a professional musician is in my future; I'm going to school for a degree in colony development. That's where we're going now, in fact; I've been accepted to the University of Terra Nova! I am so excited!"

"Ori, Roger, Amelia," said Miranda shakily, "We don't have much time, and what I have to say … it's complicated. I … I wanted you to know that … that I'm not just an employee of the adoption agency. Ori, I'm your sister." She was so nervous, and she felt the tear on her cheeks. She no longer cared. "I don't want to … I mean … damn it! I don't even know what to say!"

"Her sister?" asked Roger. But then he realized the truth. "Now it makes sense. They had said that a family member had rescued her from an abusive situation. That must have been you!"

"It was," cried Miranda, overjoyed at the reception the Bransons were giving her.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Oriana suddenly. "That's Commander Shepard!"

Oriana was a nineteen year old girl, and she acted like one. She looked over at the Commander and could not help but join Ori in admiring the man. Then she smiled broadly, saying,

"He's with me."

"You're working with Commander Shepard?" Oriana's hands went to her mouth. "That is so cool!" Then she became giddy and exclaimed, "You gotta tell me what he's like!"

"He's a good friend, and a good man," replied Miranda proudly. "Everything the vids said he was, and a lot more." Then her tone became more serious. "We're on an important mission. I … I can't give you details, but it was … important to me to see you, to know that you were alright before we embark on it."

"It sounds dangerous," said roger, his voice now tinged with concern.

"It is," she confirmed. "Please don't ask me any details; I can't share them. I only wanted you to know that … that I love you. And …"

She was overcome with emotion, unable to continue, so Oriana just hugged her tightly. Then she whispered,

"Miranda, I know I've had a guardian angel for many years, but I never knew it was you. Thank you." Then she said aloud, "I love you too sis."

The shuttle arrived, ending the reunion. The Bransons collected their luggage, and bid Miranda farewell. Miranda could hardly believe how well it had gone. _Shepard was right_, she thought. _It wouldn't hurt for her to know_.

"If I come back from this," said Miranda, "I'll see you again. I promise!"

"You'd better," Ori called back as they boarded the shuttle. "And kiss the Commander for me, will you?"

Ten minutes; that was all the time she was able to have with her sister, but it was the best ten minutes of her life. With Oriana safe, she rejoined Shepard and Jacob. _Finally_, she thought, _I can put my personal worries aside and focus on the mission_. But as she rejoined the Commander, she realized that she had feelings other than worry that might distract her.


	9. Chapter 9: Attraction Acknowledged

**Chapter 9: Attractions Acknowledged**

They took the shuttle back to the Nos Astra Transport Hub. The ride was going to be long, but Miranda did not mind. She sat across from Shepard; next to Jacob, just as she had when they had first left the doomed Lazarus Project and met the Illusive Man. She had started to sit down next to him, but she wanted to maintain some professional distance; she realized that she was falling for the war hero, and did not want to risk being that close for fear of displaying physical affection. Also, she wanted to look at him as they spoke, look into his eyes. She thought she could just lose herself in those eyes.

"Shepard, Jacob, thank you both for helping me out with Ori," she said, not wanting to minimize the fact that Jacob had risked his life in the process as well. "You know, before now, I considered you both to be trusted associates. But now, you're more than that, both of you. You're friends; true, honest to goodness friends. I thought Niket was that, but I was wrong; until the two of you, I haven't had friends. Not since I was in school, and none of them would have risked their lives for me, and for my sister, the way you two did. Thank you."

"We've been through a lot, Miranda," said Jacob. "Even before the Collectors hit. Surprised it took you this long to see that."

"Jacob, that's not what I …"

"Come on you two," Shepard interjected. "We just did something good, with zero moral ambiguity. Kind of refreshing, if you ask me. Jacob, Miranda's slow to trust. We're on the short list of people she considers friends. That's something to be happy about. Don't be resentful about how long it took."

"Sorry, Miranda," Jacob said. "Shepard's right. I wasn't resentful; I just … I wish you could have seen that you had people around you who cared about you sooner – it might have made things a little easier for you, that's all."

"Jacob, you saw what I just went through," Miranda retorted. "My father … you have no idea what he's like, Jacob. No amount of explanation can communicate it. He was … he was a monster. Niket thought that having his money made my life happy, but it was a living hell. The money wasn't a benefit … it was a prison."

"But you broke out," said Shepard. "You stood up on your own feet, rescued your sister, and went out and made a difference in the galaxy. You stuck to your guns, held to your principles. I admire that, Miranda." Then he looked at Jacob. "You too, Jacob. You joined Cerberus to make a difference in the galaxy, not out of xenophobia or any ulterior motive." Then he looked at both of them. "I had the best team in the galaxy when I fought against Saren and the Geth. The Collectors took me out of action, Kaiden died on Virmire, and the Alliance broke that team apart once I was gone. But now? This team is going to be even better."

"I'm sorry Operations Chief Williams blew you off, Commander," said Miranda. "I know she meant a lot to you, and whatever I think of her personally, she proved herself in the battle against Sovereign."

"Too bad she wouldn't join us," agreed Jacob. "She's a real powerhouse; we could have used her."

"Yeah, Ashley uninvited herself, but so what?" asked Shepard. "The people we've recruited are all top notch, including Jack and Grunt. Zaeed's every bit the ground pounder Ashley was, and most importantly, Garrus is back, and I've got the two of you. Jacob, you remind me a lot of Kaiden; you're both biotic, and smart as whips."

Then he looked into Miranda's eyes, holding her gaze. Miranda was transfixed. She felt the connection between them, one that transcended physical proximity. She had never experienced this with anyone before, man or woman. Ori was the closest, but this was different. She felt as though Shepard could see into her very being. It was exhilarating, but also terrifying. Then he spoke.

"Miranda, you brought me back. Nobody else, literally nobody, would have done that. I don't know how Cerberus found me, and at this point, I don't even care. You brought me back. My life would be over if it weren't for you." He reached across and touched her cheek. "You're a miracle, Miranda. Don't ever forget that."

_My God, if we were alone, this would be very different_, she thought, trembling slightly at his touch. _Don't do it, Miranda_, she said to herself. _Don't fall for him, not now. Too much is at stake_. But she knew it was too late. The best she could do was keep control over her feelings and keep things professional. She had to; this mission was far too important. But she hated that she had to. She looked down, finally able to avert her gaze, but as hard as she tried not to, she knew that she was showing far more emotion than she should. _Dammit, if we were just normal people_, she thought. But then, as normal people, Shepard never could have stopped Saren, the Geth, or Sovereign, and she could never have brought him back to fight the Collectors. And they probably never would have met. It was just another reminder of the prison of her father's gifts; those gifts enabled her to be where she could meet the Commander, but at the same time, placed her in a position where she could do nothing about it. But she _could_ tell him one thing.

"Thank you, Shepard," she replied. "You mean a lot to me; what you've done for me, for Ori, and … well … it means a lot." She took his hand with her own before he had fully withdrawn it and held it for a long moment before letting go_. In another life_, she thought, _or perhaps when this is all over, maybe we can actually have that 'another life' for real._

The skycar docked at the Nos Astra Transport Hub, and the trio alit from the cab, Shepard tried to let Miranda go first, as she tried to do the same. They smiled and exchanged mirthful smiles, and then each tried to go first, which resulted in their gently bumping up against each other. It seemed as though they were about to share a kiss, but then Miranda said,

"Sorry; that was my fault."

"Totally mine," replied Shepard. "Ladies first."

Miranda smiled back as she walked past him. He smiled back; how could he not? _She's beautiful_, he thought. _And we definitely have a connection_. Two years had passed since he and Ashley had been together, and their most recent meeting had officially ended their relationship. _Two years_, he thought. _Nobody would hold it against me, especially not after her behavior on Horizon_.

"She really cares about you, you know," said Jacob. "And as far as I'm concerned, you're the best thing that's ever happened to her."

"Thanks, Jacob. Definitely food for thought."

Now that they were back at the hub, Shepard immediately got to work on Liara's request to hack terminals in the area. It did not take him long; he had found himself bereft of Omni-gel prior to the new security upgrades that nullified it, and had been forced to hack in the old fashioned way. Garrus and Kaiden had both taught him some tricks of the trade. Now, he was as proficient a hacker as most combat engineers, though he was nowhere near Tali, Garrus' or Miranda's league.

As he hacked the last terminal, Liara contacted him, asking him to check in with her as soon as he could. He made a note to do that, though he did not want to get too involved in Liara's side projects; friend though she was, he really needed to stay focused on the mission, and at this point, it did not seem as though investigating the Shadow Broker would intersect with stopping the Collectors. With that done, he went to visit Tracking Officer Dara, the contact Liara had given him to connect with the Justicar, Samara.

As the trio approached Officer Dara's remote office in the hub, a green skinned Asari woman seated on a bench saw him and stood, walking hurriedly to meet him.

"Commander Shepard," she called before closing the gap. Miranda's head jerked to look at the beautiful, but unusual looking Asari, almost as though someone had forcibly yanked the operative's head in the Asari's direction. Miranda looked … jealous? "Commander Shepard," repeated the woman as she reached the Commander. "I don't suppose you'd remember me. I'm Shiala; we met on Feros during the Geth attack."

Shiala, the Asari Commando whom Saren had traded to the Thorian in exchange for the Prothean Cipher, and who had also transferred to Saren's mind. Shepard had freed her, and then she had given him the Cipher as well, which ultimately enabled him to understand the visions from the Prothean beacons and discern the location of the Conduit. Without that, he would never have been able to succeed in his mission. After freeing her from the Thorian, she had stayed on to help the human colony of Zhu's Hope on Feros.

"Saren had given me to the Thorian creature as a slave," she continued, pacing back and forth nervously. "You killed it, and saved me. I promised to help Zhu's Hope recover, and I'm actually here on Illium for just that purpose."

"Is there something I can do to help?" Shepard asked, remembering what a miserable time the Zhu's Hope colonists were having of things in Feros after the Geth attack and their being used as living test subjects by Exogeni. If he could do anything to facilitate Shiala helping them, he would, so long as it would not derail him from his primary ojective.

"I'd appreciate it," replied the green Asari, who went on to explain that after the enslavement of the Colonists by the Thorian, they had suffered unusual health problems, ranging from headaches, shared sensations, and in Shiala's case, a change in skin color from blue to green. Baria Frontiers had offered medical treatment and scans to the colonists, but that buried in the small print was a contractual clause that allowed them to perform invasive procedures if they found anything of interest. And as it turned out, they had.

Shiala's mission was to talk to Erynia, the Baria Frontiers rep, whose kiosk was nearby in the Transport hub, and try to get her to change the contract. Unfortunately, Shiala's efforts had come to naught, and the cold hearted Erynia would not budge. Should the colonists refuse to allow the invasive procedures, they would be declared in breach of contract and be sued for far more money than they could afford. Even the legal fees of defending themselves in the suit were beyond their reach.

"I'll talk to the survey group," Shepard volunteered.

"I appreciate it, Shepard," Shiala replied gratefully.

Miranda and Jacob followed Shepard as he made his way to the Baria frontiers kiosk. She was familiar with predatory companies such as Baria, and how they preyed upon human colonists, who frequently were not well off and even more often, not highly educated. It was one of the things that had made her a supporter of Cerberus. She felt a degree of righteous indignation, but she was also anxious. As they approached the Baria Frontiers kiosk, it was clear why Shiala had made no headway. The rep, Eryinia, was waiting for them, a scowl on what would have been an otherwise lovely Asari face, and her body tense, wound up and ready for a confrontation.

"I saw your conversation, human," Erynia said tersely. "You're here to complain about the medical contracts those colonists from Feros signed. I suggest you leave. Your life is short enough. Do not waste what time you have bothering me."

_Bitch_, thought Miranda.

"Why are you insisting on these tests?" asked Shepard, ignoring the Asari's protestation. "What use could they possibly be?"

"Their use is not your concern," dismissed Erynia. "A legally binding contract was signed. Nothing else matters." Then she brushed them off with a wave of her hand and began lecturing them, all the while walking around as though she were an actress on a stage. "All you, Humans, Salarians, Turians; you come to our planet and complain that our laws don't suit you." Then said she turned and walked straight to Shepard and very hostilely said, "The galaxy would be a better place if nobody but the Asari had ever dragged themselves out of the primordial muck."

"Why are you so prejudiced against aliens?" Shepard asked dispassionately.

"Pheh," Erynia snorted derisively. "Where do I start? With Salarian explorers unleashing the Rachni on us, then unleashing the Krogan to correct their mistakes? Or the Turians, so eager to bomb every problem away? Or the Humans; the new arrivals who already think they should be in charge?" With each sentence, her voice rose in volume, intensity, and anger. Then she got quiet, but no less intense. "Every war that has plagued this galaxy has been caused by your people. My people's deaths are on your hands," she said, pointing directly to Shepard as she spoke.

_Ridiculous_, thought Miranda. _The woman is insane!_

Shepard folded his arms and looked down at her with disdain.

"You seem to forget that a Human saved you from Saren and the Geth," Shepard countered.

"The Geth created by the idiotic Quarians?" she asked defiantly as she began walking about again, her voice raising to its formerly high volume. "Led by a rogue Turian Spectre in an attack? The Geth didn't start at the Citadel! They attacked your human Colony, Eden Prime first. You humans brought the Geth upon us! You humans, and the Turians and the Quarians!" Then she shouted, pointing and reiterating, "My people's deaths are on your hands!"

"That sounds personal," observed Shepard. "Whose deaths are we talking about exactly?"

"My bondmate was killed on the Quarian homeworld during the initial Geth uprising," Eryinia explained sadly, the fury suddenly sucked out of her. Then she began crying, tears streaming down her face. She turned and walked to the railing by the kiosk and leaned against it, her back to Shepard. Then she spoke, just above a whisper. "My daughters died on the Citadel during the Geth attack. One worked in the embassy, the other was a greeter for the Consort." Then she straightened and turned around, her voice now at a conversational level, but hard, and cold. "I'm not speaking in hypotheticals, human. The aliens will never be my allies. The best they can do is give me useful medical data."

"Your bondmate was with the Quarians," observed Shepard, "and your daughters worked every day with aliens at the embassy and the Consort."

"And look what happened to them!"

"You've suffered, I get that," Shepard said, now condescendingly, now walking towards Erynia. "These colonists are trying to live peaceably, and they've suffered too. They've lost family to the Geth, and to the Thorian creature. Don't add to their anguish."

Erynia backed up until she hit the railing next to the kiosk. Then she slumped and collapsed, crying in a heap on the floor. Shepard walked over and offered his hand, helping the bitter Asari to her feet.

"I'm sending an amended contract," the weeping Asari said, her voice raspy and low. "No more tests, no more fees. There's enough grief in the galaxy. I don't need to add to it."

Miranda could hardly believe it as they walked back. Shepard had backed Erynia down with the sheer force of his personality. He never raised his voice or returned Erynia's insults; he simply stated the truth. Powerfully. And in the face of a xenophobic Asari. Suddenly, Miranda wondered if that was how Cerberus, and groups like Terra Firma and Earth First sounded to Shepard. _No_, she thought, _we're not like that. We're not hateful like she was!_

"What a piece of work," exclaimed Jacob. "I can't believe you didn't let her get under your skin! I wanted just shake that woman and make her understand!"

"I knew her daughters," Shepard announced.

"You did?" Miranda was surprised that Shepard would have even remembered them.

"Yeah; when I first visited the Citadel after Eden Prime, her daughter at the embassy helped me learn my way around the place. Later, I had to settle a dispute involving an Elcor Diplomat, a Turian general, and the Consort, which is when I met the other one. They were both very helpful to me. I feel bad for Erynia. I understand why she's bitter."

Miranda realized that Shepard had lost a lot of friends and family over the years. His parents died when he was very young; he lost squadmates on missions, Kaiden on Virmire, and more friends with the destruction of the old Normandy. Then he lost Ashley, though in her case, it was an emotional loss rather than a literal one. _Empathy_, she thought. _He has so much empathy_. Then she berated herself for lacking empathy. She knew people thought of her as cold, but she could not help it; she had learned to keep people at a distance. Empathy opened one up to trust, and trust opened one up to being betrayed. She had learned that the hard way long ago.

Contrary to what people thought, Miranda was not at all devoid of emotion. In fact, she was very emotional. But she had bottled up her emotions long ago, keeping them well controlled. She never allowed herself to feel; that led to misjudgment and pain. Niket … he was the last to hurt her, and his cut was the deepest. They had been through so much … _can I ever trust that deeply again?_ She put that question aside as they approached Shiala.

"You did it! Shepard," exclaimed the green Asari as they met her, "they just sent over the revised contracts! You've saved Zhu's Hope again. I don't think I could have …" Downcast, she shook her head. "Is it always like this? Yesterday's problems lingering in some new form? Isn't anything ever just fixed?"

The irony of a woman over three centuries old asking Shepard, a man in his late twenties, questions about life, was not lost on Miranda.

"You've got the power to make a difference, Shiala," replied Shepard. "Not everyone does."

"You're right," agreed Shiala. "You gave us a chance by saving the colony. I can't let them down – I won't! Thank you for what you've done here, Shepard. I'll keep doing what I can." Then she got very close to the Commander and said, "Maybe some time when … I'm not organizing the colony, and you're … not doing whatever you do …" Then she touched Shepard's shoulder and looked at him longingly, pain and sadness mixed with the wistful dreaming of the man who had just saved Zhu's Hope again. Miranda thought the Asari was going to kiss the Commander, and felt a surge of jealousy, but Shiala did not. She abruptly looked away and walked off before she said anymore. Miranda felt the jealousy subside, replaced with … satisfaction? As though a rival had just been vanquished?

_No_, she thought, _this can't be happening_.

After getting a lead on Samara from Tracking Officer Dara, Shepard led them to Liara's office and gave her the data. This led Liara to explain that she was trying to locate a Shadow Broker agent known only as the Observer. Liara explained that with the data Shepard had obtained, data from various terminals in the trading floor could be reconstructed and analyzed to figure out who the Observer was. Her assistant, Nyxeris, explained that they had narrowed the Observer down to one of five agents, who were referred to only by profession and race; a Turian, a Salarian, a Krogan, and a Vorcha. Liara asked if Shepard would put his hacking skills to use once more, which he agreed to do before leaving.

Shepard hit the four terminals on the trading floor, and a fifth in Eternity. With the logs reconstructed, Shepard looked it over. A troubled look crossed his handsome face. _Yes_, Miranda decided. _He's very handsome_. He contacted Liara.

"All five of the suspects are male," said Shepard. "Something's not right. Who gave you this information?"

"My assistant, Nyxeris," replied Liara. "She got the information … Nyxeris gave me the information." Then they heard her call, "Nyxeris, could I see you in here for a moment? Shepard, I'll talk to you later."

By the time they got to Liara's office, Nyxeris was dead. As it turned out, Nyxeris was the Observer. Liara boasted that she had found some "interesting data" on Nyxeris' computer, and thanks to Shepard, now she was that much closer to finding the Shadow Broker. Liara transferred five thousand credits to Shepard's account as thanks for his help. Then she said darkly,

"And when I find the Shadow Broker, I hit him with a biotic field so strong that what's left of his body will fit into a coffee cup."

"That anger can't be just from what you've told me," noted Shepard. "What else happened between you and the Shadow Broker?"

Liara looked at Miranda, and then stood and looked out the window, her back to the trio.

"Did Cerberus ever tell you how they recovered your body?" Shepard shook his head, but before he could respond verbally, Liara continued. "I gave it to them," she confessed. "I gave you to them, Shepard, because they said they could rebuild you."

Shepard suddenly was bold upright in the chair, shocked by the revelation, and Jacob looked sharply at Miranda, mouthing, "is this true?" Miranda nodded, silently, gaving thanks for Liara finally revealing what Miranda herself could not.

"And to do that," Liara continued, sitting back down, "I had to take it from the Shadow Broker, who was going to sell your corpse to the Collectors."

Shepard turned and looked at Miranda, then back at Liara.

"Why didn't you tell me this before now?"

"Because, I screwed it up, Shepard," Liara confessed. "I barely escaped with my own life. And when I gave you to Cerberus, I told myself that I was doing it for you, for a chance to bring you back. But I knew Cerberus would use you for their own business. And I let it happen, because I couldn't let you go. I'm sorry."

"You did the right thing, Liara," Shepard said consolingly. "My mission is important, and I couldn't do it if you hadn't given me to Cerberus."

"Thank you," exclaimed Liara, her face brightening. "I … I was afraid you'd hate me. So that's why I must destroy the Shadow Broker. For what he did to my friend, and to you, and for whatever he's doing with the Collectors."

"Be careful out there, Liara," warned Shepard. "Don't turn into the thing you're hunting."

"Says the dead spectre working for Cerberus," chided Liara. "Don't worry Shepard; I'm not my mother. Everything I'm doing, I'm doing of my own free will … for better or for worse."

The trio left Liara's office and went to meet Detective Anaya, who put them in touch with Samara directly. After obtaining the name of a ship that a fugitive the Justicar was chasing had taken, the beautiful Samara agreed to work with them. In the process, they exposed a Volus trader as a smuggler, and killed the Eclipse merc who had murdered the trader's partner. The detective even slid them some credits to thank them for their help. Through it all, Shepard handled himself with dignity, never failing to do the right thing. The Justicar was so impressed that she swore an oath of service, binding herself to Shepard's code for the duration of the mission. Miranda could never have obtained such an oath from a woman like Samara.

_If things keep going like this? We just might survive this mission after all_, Miranda mused.

With Oriana safe, the trio returned to the Normandy. It was time to take care of more personal business, and Shepard decided that dealing with the unstable Jack's request was at the top of the list now that he had helped Jacob and Miranda – especially Miranda! _What an eye opener_, he thought. The façade of cold professionalism had completely fallen away, though at least with the crew, she had resumed it to some extent, but even that was less cold, less impersonal than before.

When the shuttle had again docked in the shuttle bay, Miranda had thanked him very warmly, and then immediately went to her cabin, almost breaking into a run to get to the lift. He noted that it was the exact same look Shiala had given him before walking away. Jacob shook his head, laughing at the absurdity of it all.

"She's got it bad, Shepard," he asserted. "And right while we're preparing for a suicide mission."

"About that, Jacob," said Shepard. "I plan on coming back and making sure that the Alliance can't just try to make the problem go away by ignoring it. The Harbinger is coming. The Reapers are coming, and I plan to meet them … and send them straight to Hell."

"I believe it!" Jacob exclaimed. "So make that woman see the light! You two belong together, Shepard."

"What about you, Jacob?" Shepard asked, curious about Miranda's past with Jacob. "I get the impression that you two had something together at one time."

"Nothing romantic," explained Jacob, "though we did have one of those 'moments' where things could have taken a romantic turn. Yeah, I was attracted to her, no denying it; I mean come on – who wouldn't be? But nah; she was too much of a company girl for my tastes. I don't have what it takes to bring her around, but you? She's open to you, Shepard. You've made the kind of connection with her that no one ever has! That's a beautiful thing. Don't waste it."

"I won't, Jacob, and thanks." Shepard shook the other man's hand firmly, and then clasped his shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, Jacob. You're a good man, and a good friend."

"Like you said after you helped me; anytime, Shepard."

Shepard entered the CIC only to be greeted by Kelly's announcement that he had message at his private terminal. He thanked the Yeoman and checked his messages, only to find that Oriana had already contacted him.

_From: Oriana (Lawson)_

_I hope this is the right Commander Shepard. I'm Oriana. My sister only told me a little, but I don't think it occurred to her that I'm as smart as she is. I poked around a little and found an information broker who got me this address._

_I got to thank her, but I never got to thank you for helping me. My parents don't really understand it, but I know how much Miranda did, how many little things over the years were her looking out for me. I'm not going to tell them. I still want to go to school and get some degrees. But I wanted you to know that I know you saved me._

_I had a guardian angel all these years. I don't know if my sister has anybody. She said she's working for you, and it was pretty clear that you were doing something dangerous. Make sure she comes back alive, okay?_

_-Oriana_

_PS: Don't tell her I sent you this. It would just make her angry._

_PPS: Miranda, quit looking at Shepard's messages. Oh, don't act like you don't. It's what I'd do._

"She does have someone," he said softly. "You may not know it yet, Miranda, but you've got me. Without even trying, you've got me."


	10. Chapter 10: The Psychotic Biotic

**Chapter 10: The Psychotic Biotic**

Miranda sat at her desk reading Shepard's messages. She laughed loudly when she read Ori's admonition to "quit looking at Shepard's messages." She was not angry either. She imagined that Ori had managed to get in contact with Liara. She hated herself for reading Shepard's electronic correspondence, though she deduced that he had already figured it out; he had no outgoing correspondence whatsoever, and thus far, aside from Ashley's lame attempt at apologizing, and a letter from his mother, he had received nothing of a personal nature. Unfortunately, part of her job was, as Shepard himself had so eloquently stated, keeping an eye on him. And that included monitoring his communications. She had to laugh; he was a Spectre, and as such, could easily find a way to circumvent her efforts to monitor him if he wanted to. She suspected that he handled any deeply personal communication while he was away from the ship.

The door chimed, and she prompted it to open; she already knew who it was. Commander Shepard walked through the door. He had taken to wearing a black uniform with white trim, a garment that he had picked up on a mission with Kasumi early on. It was not a Cerberus uniform, but it really looked good on him

"Shepard, what can I do for you?" she asked pleasantly.

"I didn't want to ask you about this in front of Liara and Jacob," he said, "but why didn't you tell me that Liara brought me to you?"

"I wanted to, Shepard, believe me, I wanted to. I'm sure it would have made it easier for us to work together, but the Illusive Man felt that it was best that you not know, so he ordered me not to tell you. I don't know why, and I'm the only one in the project who knew how we obtained you."

"But Liara was under no such obligation, so now I know." He stood silently for a moment, and then smiled. "I suppose it's better this way, though. You won my trust on your own. Still don't trust Cerberus, but I do trust you, Miranda."

"That means more to me than you can possibly know," she said to him, relieved to hear it from him. "And I'm sorry for … well … the position I'm in with you. As you said when we first embarked on this mission; one of my jobs is keeping an eye on you. Though doing that has become very much my pleasure, believe me."

"Yeah, I know you're in my communications and such," he said, confirming what she had already surmised. But then he smiled mischievously, and said, "But to tell you the truth, I rather like knowing that you're keeping an eye on me."

"Oh really?" She perked up at this, and stood and leaned over the desk, her elbows on its surface and her chin resting in her hands. "You like knowing that I'm with you, watching you, even when we're technically off duty?"

"Yeah," he said. "I have nothing to hide, and I've had no life but this one since you brought me back. While you may be reporting on me to the Illusive Man, you're also invested in me personally. You want this mission to succeed, and keeping me in good condition is a necessity, but you care about me too, and I appreciate that."

She looked into his eyes for a few moments, neither of them speaking, and then sat back down. _Time to change topics_, she thought.

"Thanks again, Shepard. Taking the time to help me with my sister … I couldn't have reached Oriana in time without your help." She got up from the desk. This was silly; having a conversation as friends with a desk between them just was not right to her. She walked to the coffee table and chairs by the picture window and sat in the chair to the right, motioning him to join her. "I'm glad Niket tried to redeem himself, for what good it did. Thank you for stopping me, Commander."

"Sounds like you had a soft spot for Niket after all," he observed as he joined her by the window, though he did not sit down.

"I didn't have many friends," she confessed. "Niket was one of them. He never wanted anything from me. He was … safe; comfortable. A reminder of a more innocent time, I suppose."

"Are you happy about your sister's relocation?"

"She has what I wanted her to have," Miranda explained. "A normal life, and the freedom to choose her own path. And she knows she has an older sister … a friend."

"Are you going to talk to her again?"

"I honestly don't know." She shifted in the chair, turning more towards the window. While she was turned away from Shepard, she could feel his presence. They did not have to have their eyes locked anymore; when they were together, the connection was strong no matter what they were doing. "For once, I haven't planned that far ahead. I'll deal with it after the mission. I need to stay focused, and she needs time to get used to her new home."

"You never told me what you talked about," he remarked.

"I introduced myself; her family was shocked! She adjusted quickly, of course. She's as smart as I am. She plays the violin; loves the Adagio movement of Nielsen's Fifth, just like I do. She wants to work in colony development. She told a joke about it. She's really funny. Something we don't share."

Shepard walked around now, interposing himself between her and the window. Seeing him against a backdrop of stars speeding by made her gasp slightly.

"It's funny; I think of you as all business," he said. "Glad to see there's a person under there."

Miranda stood and smiled at him. She wanted to embrace him, to kiss him, and to lose herself with him. She reached over and touched his right side, feeling the chiseled muscles through his uniform. She wanted to tell him that … that she loved him. He smiled at her, a truly happy smile, anticipating the kiss that they were about to share. Then she pulled back, and his smile gave way to puzzlement and disappointment.

"The mission's too important to let personal feelings interfere," she said. "But thank you, Commander. My sister is safe, thanks in large part to you. I won't forget that." She turned and went back to her desk. "I have some things I need to wrap up, but I look forward to chatting with you more." She could not help but smile at him the entire time. She kicked herself for spoiling the moment, but she could not let romantic feelings take her focus off of the mission.

"I'll let you work, Miranda," he said. "It was good talking with you."

Shepard left, and Miranda got back to writing her report. She typed a few meaningless sentences and then just sat, staring at the terminal, unsure of what to type. That's when Edi spoke.

"My diagnostics indicate that you have developed a strong emotional attachment to the Commander, Ms. Lawson."

"Edi, that is none of your …"

"It is my business, Ms. Lawson. The success of this mission is my business, and your success in particular is my business. Be careful how close you get to him, Ms. Lawson. Oriana is not the only one who is as smart as you are." With that, Edi cut the connection.

_Edi won't have to keep us apart_, she thought. _Even after the mission, I can't get involved with him; not as I am. It … it wouldn't be fair to him. And if I get involved, he'll find out the truth …_

Shepard wondered what was holding Miranda back. He surmised that it really was her desire to focus on the mission, but he could not help but think that there was something more. Not anything nefarious; he decided that if Cerberus wanted to screw him over, as capable as he was, they had him in the perfect situation to do it. If Miranda really was planning to sell him out, it would likely happen when he could not do anything about it. But he was convinced that she was genuine.

He took the lift to engineering and went down into the sublevel. There he met Jack. She sat on a cot, her head propped up in her hands, elbows on her knees. She wore little more than a thong over her breasts, and tight leather pants that left little to the imagination. Her tattoos were intricate, and even beautiful, but it was a dangerous beauty. She had wanted to see him, and he knew exactly what it was about. It did not take her long to get to it either. After a brief prelude about Cerberus, and how they had raised her in the Teltin Facility on Pragia, and what they had done to her in pursuit of creating the most powerful human biotic, she finally told Shepard what she needed.

"I want to plant a bomb in the middle of that place, my cell, and watch it blow up from orbit."

She steeled herself for the confrontation she thought she would have with Shepard over this, but he surprised when he said,

"I'll set a course for Pragia."

"Thanks, Shepard," she said cheerfully. "I owe you."

Miranda stepped out of the shuttle more confused and unsure of herself than she had been since she ran from her father. Cerberus had been her cause, her life, and indeed, her savior. But what she saw on Pragia … it was monstrous! It was everything her father had tried to do to her, only it was ten times worse! And it was to Jack, who she could not stand! The logs they found at the facility indicated that Teltin had gone rogue, but that could not have happened right away. Jack had been taken as an infant from God knows where, and had been subjected to brutal experiments, and other children used as test subjects to weed out what did not work, often killing them. _It wasn't really Cerberus_, she said to herself emphatically. She just knew that it was not. But she had to know for sure; she had to know that she had not spent all of her adult life aiding an organization that was no better than her vile father. She did not wait for Shepard and Jack to disembark from the shuttle; she went straight to her cabin and contacted the Illusive Man.

"Your suspicions are correct, Miranda," the Illusive Man confirmed. "Teltin did indeed go rogue. Thankfully, Jack's escape put them out before they could do any real damage. It's unfortunate that you let Shepard blow up the facility, though; I would have thought you'd have worked harder to protect our assets."

"It was the only way to keep Jack from going psycho on us," she explained. "And that place was a wreck; we recovered all of the tech that remained, so there were no assets lost."

"I'm just glad we could clear this up, Miranda," replied the Illusive Man. "We need everyone at their best, and that includes you."

"Gotta go, Sir; Jack is about to tear the door from the bulkhead."

Miranda cut the transmission as Jack forced the door open with her powerful biotics. Miranda had never encountered a biotic equal in any human, but Jack was most definitely her equal, possibly … her better!

"Tell me now, you sanctimonious bitch, how great Cerberus is!" Jack was shouting, her voice filled with rage, and her body primed for battle, crackling with biotic power.

"You heard the audio logs, saw the recording," replied Miranda, trying to mollify her. "Teltin had gone rogue! Cerberus would never allow that kind of …" Miranda dodged a chair that Jack had pulled and hurled at her from behind.

"Don't you dare defend those assholes! They're in it up their goddam eyeballs!"

"No, Jack," retorted Miranda, standing her ground. "We are not. That's not the business we're in! I came to Cerberus to get away from that kind of thing! My father …"

"Spare me your sob stories, you bubbled assed bitch! How come you can't just admit it? Why can't you just admit that they were fucking out of their minds?"

"Because it wasn't us!" Miranda could no longer tolerate this; not from Jack. It was too close to home for her. She had to draw a line and stick to her guns, no matter what. "Why can't you see that? It was in the bloody logs! That you read!" Now, she brought her own biotics to bear, her body crackling with energy. If Jack wanted a fight, she would have one. That's when she noticed that Shepard had entered the room. _Thank God_, she thought.

"Touch me, and I'll smear the wall with you, bitch!" Jack hurled the poor chair at her again to emphasize the point. Miranda ducked, the chair narrowly missing her.

"Enough!" Shepard's bark was enough to freeze both women in their tracks. He wore no armor and carried no weapons, but they both knew better than to test him. "Stand down! Both of you!"

"The cheerleader won't admit what Cerberus did to me was wrong," growled a sullen Jack.

"It wasn't Cerberus," Miranda said tersely, "Not really. But clearly, you were a mistake." She stood with her arms folded, her confident and condescending air back in full.

"Screw you!" Jack turned and pointed, her finger less than an inch from Miranda's face. "You have no idea what they put me through! Maybe it's time I showed you!"

Jack was about to make good on her threat when Shepard interposed himself between them.

"My opinion is what matters," he growled. "You two keep a deck apart at all times."

"She can't be trusted, Shepard," Miranda exclaimed. "She'll jeopardize the whole mission!"

"If we survive this, you two can tear each other apart," he said, not budging. "Until then, save your hate for the Collectors."

"She'll survive. I'll make sure of it," Jack promised the Commander. Then she looked at Miranda, and said, "Then, I'll tear you apart myself." With her tantrum neutralized by the Commander, Jack left. Shepard held up a hand and stopped her for a moment, his eyes meeting Jack's gaze for just a moment.

"You two gonna be okay?" he asked.

Jack nodded, and then Shepard let her go.

"It's a good thing you came by when you did," said Miranda, sitting down. "As long as she does her job, I can do mine. Thanks Shepard."

Miranda was thoroughly embarrassed by what had just happened. Shepard left, undoubtedly disappointed with both women. Recruiting Jack had not been Shepard's idea; it was Cerberus, and straight from the Illusive Man. It was Cerberus who had put the money up to buy her from Purgatory. And it was Cerberus that had at least started the Teltin Facility. Where had it all gone wrong?

Shepard again went down into the bowels of engineering to check in with Jack. If need be, he would get her in line old school; Shepard had not always been an officer, after all. Having come up through the ranks as an enlisted man, Shepard had gone from a Marine Corps private to a Marine Corps sergeant, and had earned a reputation for being able to both lead his men, and to keep them in line when necessary. He was still an NCO during the blitz, and it was his actions in that conflict that put in motion the events that would lead to him becoming an officer in the Alliance Navy. He had biotics under his command before, and some of them had serious chips on their shoulders, L2s especially. They all had learned that with Shepard, biotics were worthless; Shepard had taken on Krogan battlemasters in close quarters and hand to hand combat and consistently won. He had been widely regarded as the toughest soldier to ever serve in the Alliance. Biotic soldiers would fall in line; they always did, and Jack would not be an exception.

To his surprise, however, she greeted him warmly.

"Hey," she said a bit sheepishly. "Sorry you had to see that."

"Thanks," he replied, surprised by her open demeanor. "I'm surprised you're being apologetic; you don't seem to concerned with what others think of you."

"I needed to wipe that place off the map," she explained. "You took me there and got it done."

"Do you think you're different as a person now?"

"I don't know. It helped, but sometimes, I just want to kill everyone I see, including you. No offense"

"I never thought I'd see you show mercy, Jack," he observed, "but you spared Aresh."

"He was trapped in the past. You showed how that could have been me." Jack leaned back on her bed and stretched out. "You have no idea what it's like to have stuff like that following you around. It marks you in ways you don't expect. But you took me back there and helped me. Thanks."

"I know you two don't get along, but you do realize that Miranda was with us, helping you."

"That's the only reason she's not a grease spot on the floor," growled Jack, not wanting to be reminded of Miranda's involvement.

"Jack, I've seen you grow as a person since you've come aboard, and though I never would have thought it, I actually like you. I grew up on ships and made a career in the military. I've served with men and women who were like brothers and sisters to me. We all had the military as our family, you know." Then he turned to her and said, "But I never had an actual brother or sister, you know; not a military brother or sister. But you? If I had a sister, you'd be it."

"Really? You really think I'm like family to you?"

"In a delinquent little sister kind of way, yeah."

"Never had anyone I thought of like that," Jack lamented. "I learned to make it on my own. You can't depend on anyone, Shepard. Everyone wants something, and everyone works the angles to get it. You? I can't figure you. But maybe you're the real deal. I don't trust anyone, but if ever did, it'd be you."

"We all change, Jack. We all grow. You've grown, Jack, but so has Miranda. Give her a chance. She's going through something; I don't know what it is, but she's not the woman I met a few short months ago."

"You heard what that bitch said to me!" Jack's temper flared again, but Shepard held up his hand.

"Yeah, after you forced your way into her cabin and tried to pulverize her," he reminded her. "Come on, Jack. Cut her some slack; if she kissed your ass, you wouldn't respect her anyway, would you."

"I guess not," she muttered. "I can get through this mission without killing her, Shepard. I owe you that." Then she brightened up. "Besides, you find better fights than anyone I've ever met. Lookin' forward to really cuttin' loose."

"Glad to hear it," Shepard said, relieved to have settled Jack down.

They had just returned from Haestom, and Tali Zorah Vas Neema had actually made a leave request to the Migrant Fleet in order to join Shepard's mission. She had been on the mission to Haestrom with Shepard and Garrus, and with her own engineering skills, she found that the three of them made great Geth fighters. Garrus' engineering skills far outstripped her own, though he had no biotic capability. Of course as a soldier, he was Turian; soldiering was so ingrained in their culture that he was on par with any N7 marine, excepting Shepard himself. As a trio, they were practically unstoppable. Even the Geth Colossus, something most people fought against in armored vehicles, they had faced on foot, along with a platoon of Geth. And they won! Shepard could do a lot with a very small team, and in the case of Garrus and herself, Shepard had a lot to work with. They had alternated formations, taken up positions that maximized their abilities, and had plowed through the Geth without any real trouble at all. While she and Garrus used tech and biotic attacks to hammer the Colossus' shields, Shepard pumped round after round into it, actually taking it out with a rifle, rather than use heavy weapons.

Once the Colossus fell, the rest of the Geth fell quickly, unable to withstand the three of them. Kal Reeger, the Quarian marine who was all that remained of Tali's team, was impressed beyond measure. And Tali needed no more convincing to join Shepard's mission than his asking. She noticed that Shepard made friends and won the respect of those he encountered equally well among both Humans and aliens. It was not his species that had impressed Nihlus two years ago, but Shepard's skill. It was how he had become a Spectre. It was how he had assembled the team to take down Saren, Sovereign, and the Geth. And it was how he was building the team now to face the Collectors.

Miranda had joined Cerberus to make Humanity strong, and to protect Human culture and interests. Everything was about maintaining separation from the aliens and keeping them from encroaching on Humanity. But she was beginning to think that Shepard had a better way. His actions in saving the Council had earned Humanity a lot of respect, and had made Shepard very well liked throughout Citadel Space, and he was respected in the Terminus systems even by his adversaries. Shepard's way was to not separate from the Aliens, but to join in galactic society and bring the strengths of Humanity to the table. Aliens who saw Shepard in action were now seeing Humanity through the lens of Shepard's deeds, and they wanted to see more. They wanted to work with the species that had birthed the hero of the Citadel. After seeing how Shepard accomplished his goals without a win-at-any-cost methodology, goals that were considered impossible until he exceeded them, she was beginning to wonder if Cerberus may actually have it wrong.

Miranda took stock of things and was very pleasantly surprised. The Illusive Man still had not found a way through the Omega-4 Relay, but in terms of preparation, they had far exceeded what Miranda had hoped, especially this early on. There were still more people to recruit, and there were issues that Mordin and Grunt needed addressed on Tuchanka, but looking at the team so far, she was impressed. Not only that, each new team member brought with them ideas that Shepard was able to use to further upgrade the ship with the resources they had gathered along the way. Garrus had managed to install the Thanix weaponry, a huge bonus against the Collector ship, and Jacob had both managed to make use of his contacts in the Alliance to upgrade the ship's armor. Doctor Chakwas had completely updated the med-bay, and Mordin, Jack, and Grunt had each found ways to enhance the performance of Shepard's fire teams. Even Miranda had found a way to enhance the scanning capabilities of the Normandy, enabling them to more easily seek out and obtain the resources they needed for upgrades and mods.

Tali, though she did not warm to Cerberus, had modified the ship's shields, making them much more resistant to enemy fire. Between her shield upgrades, Jacob's plating upgrades, and Garrus' weapons upgrades, the ship was stronger than ever, and ready to stand up against the Collectors. And all of the Alien crew had mixed well with the Normandy's Cerberus crew. That surprised Miranda the most. It seemed, however, that Shepard's multi-cultural/multi-species attitudes, combined with his successes and his prior reputation, had really made an impression on the crew. And on Miranda herself.

Her door chimed, and she saw that it was Shepard. Though she was trying to maintain a bit of professional distance between them, she still loved being in his presence, and was overjoyed that he did not take offense to her keeping that distance.

"Commander, what can I do for you?"

"Do you have a minute, Miranda?" he asked.

He could have messaged her to ask that, but he came in person. She knew that he enjoyed her presence as much as she did his. And she liked that he was here.

"Of course. I'm just finishing an operation report," she said. "I'm impressed, Shepard. So far, things have gone exceptionally well. As Cerberus operations go, this is one of the best I've been a part of." Actually, it was the best, but she did not want to give that away.

"Maybe because this isn't a Cerberus operation," he replied.

"Not to you, maybe," she conceded. "But I believe in Cerberus and what we do. Cerberus gave you a second chance, Commander. Maybe you should do the same for us."

"Cerberus obviously has your loyalty," Shepard observed. "How did you get involved with them?"

"Hmmm … I suppose you've earned the right to know." She collected her thoughts for a moment and looked down. This would be difficult, but she wanted to tell him. Sharing this was … deeply personal for her. This was more than just surface matters, and she had never shared this with anyone; only the Illusive Man knew her background, and that had been through his own investigations, not through her telling him. She motioned for Shepard to join her behind her desk and sit in the extra chair. Once he was seated, Miranda began.

"Do you remember when I told you how I was genetically altered?" she asked. "Well, that wasn't my choice. My father … created me." She shuddered as she thought about the enormity of it. "He's a very influential man and extremely controlling. He didn't want a daughter … he wanted a dynasty. I ran away as soon as I was old and brave enough. I went to Cerberus because I knew they could protect me."

"You seem capable of defending yourself," Shepard told her. "Why did you need Cerberus?"

"My father invested a great deal in his dynasty," she replied. "It wasn't a matter of just leaving … I knew he would continue to pursue his ... investments."

"I assume that Cerberus approves of your enhanced abilities?" Shepard half asked/half declared.

"Of course," she explained. "Cerberus fully endorses anything that advances the cause of Humanity … genetic alterations included. But unlike Father and his selfish reasons, Cerberus and the Illusive Man believe in a greater good. They see the bigger picture … and I feel like I have a purpose here."

"Who exactly is your father?"

"His name is Doctor Henry Lawson; a businessman. But a very wealthy one. It's ironic; my father believed deeply in a human positive agenda. He donated generously to Cerberus … before I joined them. That's how I first heard about Cerberus … through my father's connections."

Shepard shook his head.

"Miranda, you talk about yourself like you're just a … tool to be used. By your father, by Cerberus."

"Maybe," she conceded. "I like to know where I fit in the world. It helps me find meaning in how I was created."

"You are who you are, Miranda. You don't need to make excuses for it."

"That's easy for you to say. We've both been engineered for greatness Shepard. The difference is, you were great before we rebuilt you. I'm great because of it."

"Your spirit and personality are what make you great," he countered. "It's what makes anyone great."

"That's kind of you … I'm not sure I believe you, but thanks for saying it."

"You told me a lot about your father," said Shepard changing the subject. "What happened to your mother?"

"I never had one," she lamented. "Most of my genetic material is based on my father's tissue. His Y chromosome was altered with an amalgam of desired traits from various sources." She looked away and sighed. "How arrogant can you be? The man is completely egomaniacal … just another reason I had to get away from him. And why I had to rescue Ori before he subjected her to the misery he subjected me to."

Shepard's omni-tool chirped. It was Yeoman Chambers; apparently, the Illusive Man needed to see Shepard in the debriefing room immediately. He shook his head, disappointed at being called away.

"The Illusive Man calls," he lamented. "I'm glad you got away, Miranda, and that we were able to keep him from getting to Oriana. But I'll let you get back to work. I'm glad we got to talk."

"Anytime, Commander," she said cheerfully.

As Shepard left, she contemplated the conversation they had just had. Shepard did not react negatively to the method of her birth, and he really made a point of telling her that it was her own spirit that made her great. She wished more than anything that she could truly believe it. But Shepard did not know all of the details of her creation, nor the unanticipated costs that came with it. If they ever got serious, he would find out. And if he found out, that would be the end. _Best to stop before we start_, she thought. _He wants marriage, a family … and I cannot give him one_.

That last thought made her deeply sad. This was the true reason she had put distance between them. Sure, they needed to focus on the mission, but if they survived, they could proceed. But once he found out the truth about her, she knew he would not want to. Without warning, she was overcome and began sobbing at her desk.


	11. Chapter 11: The Collector Ship

**Chapter 11: The Collector Ship**

"Patching the Illusive Man through, Commander," said Joker over the intercom as Shepard entered the conference room. The table sank into the floor, revealing the QEC pad for Shepard to stand on. He strode up to it and stepped in to the circle, his image being digitized and uploaded into the system. Before him, the Illusive Man's image materialized. This time, the Illusive Man was standing against the cosmic backdrop, his chair nowhere to be seen, smoking a cigarette. Shepard suspected that the Illusive Man's entire floor was rigged to transmit his image, so as to allow him to move about during conversation.

"Shepard – we caught a break. I intercepted a distress call from a Turian patrol. They stumbled onto a Collector ship beyond the Korlus System. The Turians were wiped out, but not before they crippled the Collector vessel. I need you to board that ship and get some hard data on the Collectors. Find us a way to get to their homeworld."

"Hard to imagine how a Turian patrol could take out a Collector ship," exclaimed Shepard.

"Reports indicate that the hull is intact, but all systems seem to be offline. They could be making repairs as we speak. I'm not saying it won't be dangerous, but we can't let an opportunity like this slip by."

"If they had a patrol out there," asked Shepard, "why aren't the Turians sending a recon team in?"

"They will. Eventually. But I intercepted the transmissions. In the meantime, we're feeding them false information. You're close enough that you can be in and out before the Turians learn the truth."

"You sure this information's good?" Shepard asked, feeling that something was off about this.

"Information is my weapon, Shepard. It's good."

"Send me the coordinates and I'll take care of it," Shepard replied, deciding that he would play along without asking too many questions for now. _Give Cerberus a second chance, Miranda said. Okay_, he thought. _This is your second chance_.

"Already sent. Once you're aboard the ship, establish an uplink with Edi. She'll mine their data for information regarding the Omega 4 relay. Good luck Shepard."

The Illusive Man took one last drag on his cigarette before cutting the connection. Shepard always looked at the Illusive Man's eyes. This time, he could see them very clearly at the end. There was something about them; something … unnatural.

"Coordinates punched in," said Joker over the intercom as the Illusive Man's image faded and the table came back up. "Let's go find us a Collector ship."

Miranda joined Shepard and Joker in the cockpit as the Normandy closed in on the Collector ship. They were still a very long ways off, but she could actually _see_ the Collector vessel. The closer they got, the larger it loomed in the windows, until it literally filled them.

"We have a visual on the Collector ship," Commander, announced Joker.

"Very low emissions," added Edi. "Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are down. Thrusters are cold."

"That thing is massive," Joker exclaimed. He then turned to Shepard and asked, "How the hell did the Turians take it out?"

Shepard had no answer. As the Normandy pulled up alongside the Collector Ship, Miranda had her first up close look at it. Seeing it in the distance from the ground on Horizon was impressive, but as the looked out the window and saw nothing but Collector ship, all of her confidence in the upgraded Normandy evaporated. The ship was over a kilometer and a half long, and her beam a third as wide. Large sections of what had once been an asteroid made up the frontal half of the ship's outer hull, and her main gun was larger than the Destiny Ascension in its entirety. Only Sovereign was larger. By the time the Normandy found a point for the shuttle to enter, Miranda was having serious doubts about their ability to survive this, should the Collector ship come back online.

"Ladar scans detect no hull breaches on the side facing us," said Edi. "I detect no mass effect field distortions. It appears the drive core is offline."

"Rendezvous in thirty seconds, Commander. Good luck," said Joker.

"Come on," said Shepard. "Let's get to the shuttle."

"Shepard," said Miranda as they made their way to the lift, "Is this what it was like for you when they attacked?"

"No," he replied smugly. "They had their engines going and were coming at us full bore. All we saw was the gun in the front."

"My God, Shepard; if that things powers up, we're dead!"

"Miranda, it's just another mission," Shepard explained, stopping and facing her. "Don't let the scale of it distract you; we'll find a way. Remember, we beat Sovereign because it linked its consciousness with Saren; when I killed Saren permanently, it caused a momentary power fluctuation that lowered its shields and disabled its weapons. That's when we took it out. The Reapers, for all their age and intelligence, proved that day that they are not infallible. And neither are the Collectors."

There was not a trace of fear in his voice. Instead, he was a picture of calm and confidence. Her own confidence returned and she put it into perspective; this was a covert operation, not a dogfight, and covert ops was her forte. After facing the Geth and the Collectors with Shepard and Garrus, she felt confident in her ability to face the Collectors in battle once they boarded. They met Garrus at the shuttle, and he looked like he was actually excited.

"Finally Shepard," the Turian exclaimed, "we're taking the fight to them!"

"Let's hit 'em hard, Garrus, just like old times!"

"Better," said Garrus. "With Miranda along? We'll kick some ass!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said. "That's a high compliment coming from you."

"You've earned it, Miranda," replied the Turian. "We could have used you two years ago."

"You had others then," said Miranda. "But you've got me for this one. And believe me; I'm in it till we finish this fight."

"Shepard, I think she's one of us now," remarked Garrus happily.

"She always was," replied Shepard. "We just hadn't met her yet."

The pre-mission banter with Shepard and Garrus was something that Miranda had never experienced with Cerberus. Camaraderie like this was something that simply was not a part of Cerberus makeup. Even with Jacob, there was nothing like what she experienced with Shepard, Garrus, and even Tali. Miranda had never been in the regular military, but she imagined that this was more common there than in an organization like Cerberus. She liked it; it made her feel as though she belonged. As they boarded the shuttle and headed over to board the Collector ship, Shepard got into mission details and strategy, but he kept that air of camaraderie alive throughout. When the shuttle finally landed, he said,

"Alright, people, let's move out! Hoorah!"

"Yes sir!" exclaimed Miranda in spite of herself.

As they made their way through the massive ship, it seemed to them to be like the inside of a giant bee hive. Edi informed them that penetrating scans had detected an access node to uplink with the Collector's databanks, and sent the nav-point to their hardsuits' computers.

"Anyone get the feeling that this is just a bit too easy?" asked Shepard.

"Yeah, I do," replied Garrus.

Miranda had been thinking the same thing; an open port on the side, and a ready rout to the node that they needed seemed just a bit too convenient. She was glad Shepard had noticed as well. The interior was impressively large, with room enough for plenty of victims. They penetrated further into the ship, finding empty pods, discarded human test subjects, Edi made a further announcement.

"Shepard, I've compared the ship's EM signature to known Collector profiles. It is the same ship you encountered on Horizon."

"Maybe the defense towers softened it for the Turians," Shepard suggested.

"The missing colonists might be aboard," added Garrus. "If they're still alive."

But the further they went into the ship, the more bodies they found. Nothing marked any of them as the missing colonists, but there was nothing to make the trio hopeful. Then, they came across the most striking piece of information thus far; a Collector test subject. It was in one of the same pods that the colonists had been placed in, but without a lid. Diagnostic equipment was hooked to it.

"That's a Collector," remarked Miranda. "Were they experimenting on one of their own?"

"Edi," said Shepard, "I'm uploading the data from this terminal. See if you can figure out what they were up to."

"Data received," came Edi's rapid response. "The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their own species and humanity."

"They're looking for similarities?" Shepard seemed dubious, but it was the logical conclusion.

"I have no hypotheses on their motivations," replied Edi. "All I have are preliminary results. They reveal something remarkable. A quad-strand genetic structure identical to traces collected from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure: the Protheans."

"My God," exclaimed Shepard, staggering back a step as he recoiled from the Collector. "The Protheans didn't vanish! They're just working for the Reapers now."

"These are no longer Protheans, Shepard," countered Edi. "Their genes show signs of extensive genetic rewrite. The Reapers have repurposed them to serve their needs."

"You'd think someone would have picked upon this," Shepard said absently.

"No one has had an opportunity to study a Collector genetic code in this detail," explained Edi. "I have already matched two thousand alleles to recorded fragments. This Collector likely descends from a Prothean colony in the Styx-Theta cluster. But there are signs of extreme alteration. Three fewer chromosomes. Reduced heterochromatin structure. Elimination of superfluous junk sequences."

"The Reapers didn't wipe out the Protheans," Shepard exclaimed. "They turned them into monsters and enslaved them!" But he quickly overcame the initial shock and said, "Still, they're working for the Reapers now, and we have to stop them."

"Shepard, we can't allow them to do to us what they did to the Protheans," Miranda exclaimed, horrified at the thought.

"Let's find what we need before the Collectors come to salvage this vessel," replied Shepard. "Move out!"

They found nearby a discarded sniper rifle, taken from a human victim, no doubt. It was a Widow Anti-Matter Sniper Rifle, and was meant to be mounted to a vehicle or a tripod. Miranda observed that it had to weigh a ton! Shepard picked it up as though it weighed nothing, checked it, and finding that it was still usable, slung it over his back and moved on.

"Commander," said Joker over the com, "On a hunch, I asked Edi to run an analysis on this ship."

"I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago," declared Edi. "They are an exact match."

"The same ship dogging me for two years?" asked Shepard. "Way beyond coincidence."

"Something doesn't add up, Commander," warned Joker. "Watch your back."

As they moved further into the ship, it opened up into a large, open area, lined with pods. They soon realized that this was the primary purpose of the ship, and that the corridors and passageways were built within the structure.

"They could take every human in the Terminus Systems and still not have enough to fill all these pods," Miranda exclaimed, horrified as the Collectors' objectives were becoming more clear.

"They're going to target Earth," Garrus said darkly.

"Not if we stop them," countered Shepard.

"Shepard, there's something wrong," noted Miranda. "Where are the bodies of the Collectors? Something's not right here."

Shepard nodded, as they arrived at the data node Edi had found earlier. They connected and Edi began the datamining process. Suddenly, there was a power fluctuation, and they heard systems coming online.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Shepard tersely.

"Major power surge," replied Joker. "Everything went dark, but we're back up now."

"I managed to divert the majority of the overload to noncritical systems," said Edi. "Shepard, it was not a malfunction. This was a trap."

They soon found themselves in the fight of their lives, as floating platforms came with Collector troops and Scions, with Harbinger possessing individual Collectors at random. With very little room to maneuver, all they could do was take cover and fire back. Miranda's shields took more than they could withstand and her armor then did the same. She was actually taking fire, and lots of it. She dispensed medigel, and kept fighting, but soon found that she was healing herself almost as much as she was fighting, and running out of medigel fast. As Scion's shockwave hit them and everything went black as she lost consciousness.

Miranda woke up to find Shepard administering medigel and first aid to her.

"You okay, Miranda?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"I am now," she groaned, sitting up. "What happened?"

"You took out a lot of them before that Scion took you out," he explained. "Garrus and I took down the rest."

He helped her to her feet gently, and she leaned on him to steady herself. Shepard then went over to the console and activated it again. Edi's image appeared atop it.

"I have regained control of the platform, Shepard."

"I knew you wouldn't let us down, Edi," replied the grateful Shepard.

"I always work at optimal capacity," the AI informed him.

"Did you get what we needed?" Shepard asked, looking hopeful.

"I found data that could help us successfully navigate the Omega-4 Relay," Edi declared. "I have also found the Turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors are the source. It is unusual."

"Seens logical to me that they would have sent the initial message as bait," replied Shepard, clearly surprised at Edi's statement.

"No," clarified Edi. "It is unusual because Turian emergency channels have secondary encryption. It is corrupted in the message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine."

"Why are you so sure?" asked Shepard, his voice tinged with suspicion.

"I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols," Edi explained. "He wrote them."

"That bastard!" exclaimed Shepard. "I knew we couldn't trust him!"

"No," cried Miranda. "That's not possible! There must be some other explanation."

"Commander," said Joker, ending the speculation, "We've got another problem. The Collector ship is powering up. You need to get out of there before their weapons come online. I'm not losing another Normandy!"

"You heard the man," said Shepard. "Let's move!"

Edi sent coordinate for shuttle extraction, but they had to fight tooth and nail to get there. They faced Collectors, Scions, husks, exploding husks, and one of those large Praetorian things that they had faced on Horizon. All the while, Harbinger possessed and enhanced individual Collectors. The fight was brutal, much more so than any prior fight Miranda had experienced. Shepard was a juggernaut of destruction, but Miranda found herself nearing unconsciousness more than once, only to be revived by either Shepard or Garrus, both of whom had heavier armor and were physically much tougher than she was.

Finally, they were in the home stretch, and they had to fight their way through a mob of husks. They had no weapons; they just swarmed them in numbers so great that the trio could not shoot them down faster than they replenished. Miranda felt herself losing consciousness again, but Shepard grabbed her and hauled her along, and through the mob of husks, the Normandy now in plain view and her path unobstructed.

"Come on," Shepard shouted. "Let's move!"

She used the last of her medigel and ran with Shepard and Garrus, returning fire as she did so. Soon they were on the shuttle, and punching it hard to get back to the Normandy. As soon as the shuttle bay door closed, the Normandy went to FTL. Miranda felt the ship lurch and her head struck the bulkhead of the shuttle. She lost consciousness again, hoping that when she woke up, the Normandy would be safe. Her last thoughts were of the Illusive Man's seeming betrayal. _Why? Why would he do that?_

"Call coming in from the Illusive Man, Commander," said Joker over the intercom. "Figure you've got a few words for him too."

Shepard lamented that this would be a video chat; he would have preferred an actual face to face so that he could pummel the Illusive Man for about two minutes before actually talking. Intel was vital in a mission, and it was pretty clear that the Illusive Man had withheld quite a bit. Now, Miranda was recovering in the med-bay, nearly getting killed during the intense fighting. Just for her alone, Shepard wanted to punch the Illusive Man's lights out. This was the second time that he had sent the team into a conflict with the Collectors without disclosing all of the details. _Cerberus just blew their second chance_, he thought. Which was unfortunate; had the Illusive Man been more of a straight shooter, Shepard thought he might actually like the man.

Miranda … she was tough, and her biotics had made up for not having heavy armor. But those Scions and that … Praetorian creature; their attacks stripped away shields and biotic barriers, and with no heavy armor after their attacks, Miranda's light armor did little to protect her. Thankfully, she seemed to be able to find cover when even Shepard thought that there was none to be had, but she took a lot of damage and had used up a lot of medigel. The final run to the shuttle through that mass of husks had subjected her to near constant pummeling, also draining away her barriers and shields before they could replenish. Shepard and Garrus had done their best to protect her, but there were so many of them. Miranda had nearly died on that mission.

He stepped into the conference room and activated the QEC, the stepped onto the pad as the table submerged beneath the floor.

"Shepard," greeted the Illusive Man, getting right to business. "Looks like Edi extracted some interesting data before the Collector ship came back online."

"Cut the act!" Shepard was having none of it. "You set us up and you'd better have a damn good reason for it!"

"We needed information on the Omega 4 Relay," the man explained. "That required direct access to Collector data. It was too good an opportunity to pass up."

Shepard shook his head. He already knew that; that was whole point of the mission.

"Agreed," Shepard conceded, "But I don't like surprises, especially when my ass is on the line."

"I put you at risk," replied the man, extinguishing his cigarette. "But without that information, we don't reach the Collector homeworld, and you and every other human may as well be dead." Then he stood and said, "It was a trap, but I was confident in your abilities. And don't forget Edi. The Collectors couldn't have anticipated her."

"You could have told me the plan," countered Shepard. "You say I'm important, but you sure try hard to get me killed." He wanted to say more about Miranda, but he did not want to give this man anything that might indicate his feelings for the Cerberus operative.

"I needed the Collectors to believe they had the upper hand. Telling you could have tipped them off in any number of ways," explained the Illusive Man. Then he added, somewhat patronizingly, "Besides, I wouldn't have sent you in if I didn't think you could succeed."

"You have one job," sneered Shepard. "Information. If I can't trust your intel, you're useless to me."

"It's never that simple. You of all people should know that."

"I know that I'll be a lot more careful; with the Collectors and with you."

"This is not time for petty grudges," the Illusive Man admonished as he sat down. "Edi confirmed our suspicions." He lit up another cigarette and took a drag. "The Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend-Foe system that the relays recognize. All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs."

"I'm guessing you have a plan?"

"An Alliance science team recently determined that the Great Rift on the Planet Klendegon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon." He paused and drank deeply from a glass of bourbon, draining it to the dregs. "A very old mass accelerator. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us plot the flight path of the intended target; a thirty seven million year old derelict Reaper. We found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf."

"Another derelict ship?" Shepard asked. "I only believe you because I doubt you'd repeat yourself so soon."

"It's no less a risk, Shepard," the man warned. "We lost contact with Doctor Chandana's team shortly after they boarded. Initial reconnaissance revealed no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources." He took another drag from his cigarette and continued. "But now we need that IFF. I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. In the meantime, I suggest you tell your crew I didn't risk their lives unnecessarily. It will make things easier going forward."

"Edi, tell the crew to assemble in one hour," Shepard called as the QEC transmission ended. "We've got a lot to talk about."

"Of course, Shepard," replied Edi's pleasant, but synthesized voice.

Miranda awoke in the med bay, her body aching from the pounding she had taken. Miranda was not used to ground assault firefights, or dealing with a mob of zombie like husks that simply swarmed upon her in wave after wave. Even with heavy armor, she was amazed at how well Shepard could handle himself in such an insane situation. Even Garrus looked to be getting overwhelmed, but Shepard just chugged along, taking out foe after foe without showing any signs of fatigue or mental weakness. His unwavering confidence and his attentiveness to her vulnerability, along with a lot of medigel, were the only reasons she had been able to survive.

She actually had a suit of somewhat heavier lightweight armor that would have been very handy. Of course, if the Illusive Man had given them good intel, she would have worn it. With its stronger shields and more substantial plating, Shepard would not have had to carry her back to the shuttle. That was the worst of all; being carried back like some damsel in distress. Miranda had never been so mortified. She realized that Shepard had probably done the same for many soldiers, both male and female, over the course of his career, and he definitely did not view her as a damsel in distress, but she hated being in that position nonetheless.

"Oh, good," exclaimed Doctor Chakwas. "You're awake."

"How long was I out?"

"About a half an hour," came Garrus' voice.

"Garrus?" She wondered why he was there. And then she felt a pang of … loneliness? Then she wondered why Shepard was not there. But Garrus seemed to be reading her mind.

"Shepard's grilling the Illusive Man right now, I'd imagine," the Turian explained. "He contacted us the moment we were clear of the Collectors. I just came down to get patched up a little. That was a tough fight."

"Yes," agreed Chakwas. "You barely survived. Shepard refused to leave your side until Garrus convinced him that you'd be alright and that he'd stay and watch over you. I promised him I'd make sure nothing would happen to you."

"You stayed with me for Shepard?" Miranda asked Garrus, surprised at the alien's loyalty.

"Miranda, let's speak plainly," replied Garrus. "I don't care that you're human, or even with Cerberus. Shepard is my best friend; my _very_ best friend. He cares very deeply for you, whether you realize it or not, though I think you do. And I must say, I've developed a certain fondness for you myself. You're damn good in a fight and a lot less drama than Williams ever was, I can tell you that."

Miranda slowly stood and then in a rare display of affection, hugged the big Turian.

"Thanks Garrus," she said. "You too, Doctor. Shepard always said you were the best. And your bedside manner is much kinder than any Cerberus physician I've worked with."

"We're in this together, Miranda," said Chakwas. "Cerberus or no, I'm part of this crew. We're a family, Miranda, and you're all my children. Even Garrus here, and that juggernaut of destruction you call Commander Shepard. And even you."

Miranda hugged Doctor Chakwas, saying, "Thank you. I won't forget this."

"I'm just doing my job, Miranda," laughed the Doctor, "But remember what I said; keep it in the back of your mind. When this mission is over and we return, and yes, we will return; Shepard will make sure of it, you'll have a man who cares very deeply for you waiting. You'll have to decide whether or not to make a life with him, or return to what you were before. I pray you make the right decision."

"I know we're friends," said Miranda as dismissively as she could manage, "but Shepard's a skipper, a soldier. He won't have time for me. He won't want me."

"Miranda, I have known Shepard longer than any of you, even Garrus. Believe me; he'll want you and he'll make time for you. It's too bad Cerberus isn't a more upstanding organization; given what the Alliance has done about the Reapers, which is virtually nothing, he'd gladly join your group for the resources alone, were it not for what he's already seen of it."

"But when this is all over," said Garrus, "he will go back to the Alliance. He will force them to get ready for the Reapers, and there will be a rift between Shepard and the Illusive Man. I know you believe in Cerberus, Miranda, but there's a better way. You're one of us, Miranda; you know the score, and you're not a heartless, win at all cost sort of woman. The two of you together? Now that'll be something to see."

Miranda nodded and thanked them both as she left the med bay to change. Her jump suit had taken quite a beating, and was good only for shop rags now. A fresh spare was waiting in her cabin. As she walked into her cabin and closed the door, she began to think about the trap the Illusive Man had led them into and the words of Garrus and Chakwas. She still believed in Cerberus' goals, but were their methods really the best way to achieve them? She was Cerberus' most trusted operative, and the Illusive Man's second. She was supposed to be important, but the Illusive Man had nearly gotten her killed. _I can talk with him after this is all over_, she thought. _And Cerberus needs contacts in the Alliance; perhaps after this is over, Shepard can coordinate with us, and we can drag the Alliance to preparedness against the Reapers whether it likes it or not._ The thought made her smile. She held onto it; she could not stay bitter or she would lose focus on the mission.

"So the Illusive Man didn't sell us out," said Jacob. "Could've fooled me."

The entire team was gathered in the conference room, including Miranda, who seemed to have recovered quickly. Shepard remembered her saying that she healed quickly. _She wasn't kidding_, he thought. None of them were happy about how the Collector ship mission had gone, but it was the information gathered from that ship that was important.

"Lied to us, used us. Needed access to the Collector's databanks," observed Mordin. "Necessary risk."

"He tries something like that again," growled Shepard, "and the Collectors will be the least of his problems." Shepard shook his head at the audacity of the Illusive Man. _One day_, he thought, _you'll be starting down the barrel of my gun, and then we'll see how smug you are_. "Edi, are you sure this IFF is gonna work?"

"My analysis is accurate, Shepard," declared the AI. "I have also determined the approximate location of the Collector homeworld, based on navigational data from their vessel."

Edi brought up a miniature of the galaxy map, and then tracked the trajectory of the ship, which led straight to a location in the galactic core, and marked the location.

"That can't be right," said a troubled Miranda, taking a closer look at the map.

"Edi doesn't make mistakes," countered Shepard. "The Collector homeworld is somewhere in the galactic core."

"Can't be," protested Jacob. "The galactic core is just black holes and exploding suns. There are no habitable planets there."

"Could be an artificial construction," offered Mordin. "Space station protected by powerful mass effect fields and radiation shields."

"Even the Collectors don't have that kind of technology," declared Miranda, her arms folded, but Shepard shook his head.

"The Collectors are just servants of our real enemy," explained Shepard. "And we've all seen what their masters are capable of. They built the mass relays and the Citadel. Who's to say they can't build a space station surrounded by black holes. No wonder nobody's ever returned from a trip through the Omega 4 Relay."

"The logical conclusion is that a small safe zone exists on the far side of the relay; a region where ships can survive," concluded Edi. "Standard relay transit protocols would not allow safe transport. Drift of several thousand kilometers is common, and would be fatal in the galactic core. The Reaper IFF must trigger the relay to use more advanced encrypted protocols."

"Just because we can follow the Collectors through the relay doesn't mean we can take them out," warned Shepard. "I don't want to go after them until I know we're ready."

"Sooner or later, we need that IFF," said Jacob. "I say, why wait?"

"It's a derelict Reaper," Miranda reminded him. "What if the Collectors are waiting for us? We may want to build up the team before we take that kind of risk."

"Miranda's right," said Shepard. "We need to keep building the team."

"It's your call, Commander," said Jacob, saluting. "Whatever you decide, we're with you."

Shepard returned Jacob's salute and said,

"Alright, everyone, back to business as usual. I've got one last person to pick up on Illium, and then Garrus and I have some unfinished business on the Citadel. There are couple of other matters I need to attend to before we go, and then it'll be time hit them where they live. Dismissed."

Everyone filed out of the room except Miranda. Once everyone had left, she walked over to him to talk. She looked around the room before speaking, and said,

"Shepard, thank you for keeping me alive. That was one of the most grueling missions I've ever been a part of, and without you, I don't' think any of us would have made it."

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you, Miranda."

"I know, and I appreciate that. Anyway, there's something I wanted to discuss with you in my cabin later. Meet me there, say after dinner."

"Looking forward to it," he replied.


	12. Chapter 12: Cerberus Wants You!

**Chapter 12: Cerberus Wants You!**

Shepard, Miranda and Jacob had a meeting of their own later shortly before dinner to discuss their next moves. The plan at this point was to take the Normandy back to Illium, where Shepard intended to take Grunt and Mordin to recruit the assassin, Thane Krios. Originally, he had intended to take Jacob, but the operative was strongly opposed to the recruitment of Thane. It struck Shepard as odd; Jacob was hung up on the fact that Thane was an assassin. Which was odd, because Jacob worked for a terrorist organization that had done far, far worse than simple assassinations. From killing luring Alliance marines to a Thresher Maw lair, killing them, to capturing and killing Admiral Kohoku, to all manner of insane experiments on people, and no doubt, assassinations of their own. It was hard for him to take Jacob's seemingly principled objections seriously.

"Jacob, I fail to see the issue here," said Shepard. "Aside from all of the questionable things that Cerberus has done, things you yourself mentioned to me on your own, we've got a hardened merc who was willing to let over a hundred refinery workers burn to death just because he was in a hurry, an art and tech thief, a mentally unstable L-5 biotic, and a genetically engineered super Krogan who kills as much as he can to prove his strength."

"And I don't recall all those moral objections when we went to recruit Okeer," added Miranda. "If he had lived, it would be a sociopathic Krogan warlord geneticist down there instead of Grunt; a geneticist who actually traded Krogan to the Collectors for tech in order to create Grunt, giving his cast offs to Jedore, who used tried to build a merc army, but ended up using them as live ammo practice."

Jacob shook his head. He was not backing off of his objections. Shepard understood them, but in light of the rest of the team and their Cerberus backers, he did not understand why those objections were so strong. And Jacob actually was a member of Cerberus, while except for Miranda, the rest of the team was not.

"Commander, I know you think I'm being a hypocrite on this …" began Jacob, but Shepard shook his head.

"Not a hypocrite, Jacob; I just don't understand your objection in light of everything else."

"I guess I hit a point where I had to draw a line in the sand," Jacob explained. "Maybe it's because … after all the rest of it, I've got to retain some shred of moral dignity in this. I can morally justify the rest of them, but not an assassin."

"Jacob," said Miranda emphatically, "I cannot emphasize enough how important this mission is. If we fail in this, morals won't matter; humanity dies and becomes the Reapers' new slave army … or something worse. We need the best, and Thane's dossier is in the file for a reason."

"We'll have to disagree on that, ma'am," replied Jacob dispassionately.

"Look, Jacob," said Shepard, "if it were up to me, this entire ship would have been different. But having worked with the team, the crew, I wouldn't do that now. Now that we've gotten as far as we have? I couldn't imagine working with another crew. Everyone on this ship, even some of our questionable teammates, have proven to be indispensable." Then he paused thoughtfully and added, "The only change I'd make now is the Illusive Man, and even he's proven valuable. We all have a part to play, Jacob. Now, I'll be picking up Thane once we get to Illium. I've had to lay aside a lot of my objections for the good of this mission. Thane is coming aboard, like it or not. He gets out of hand, I'll put him down myself. You can even keep an eye on him if you want, but I expect you to at least try to make this work."

"You have my word, Commander," said Jacob. "I'll always raise objections if I have them; that ain't gonna change, but thanks for listening and not just blowing me off." He shot Miranda a displeased glance as he said that last part. "But don't worry; I'm with you no matter what."

"I appreciate that, Jacob," said Shepard gratefully, shaking the other man's hand. Jacob saluted and left Shepard and Miranda alone in the debriefing room. Miranda shook her head in frustration. Then she looked at Shepard with a pleading look.

"This is one of the things I want to discuss after dinner tonight, Shepard. I'll … I'll see you then." She saluted him and left.

After dinner came soon enough, and Shepard went to Miranda's cabin. He had no idea what she wanted to talk about, though after their meeting with Jacob, he suspected that it was not about the mutual attraction that Shepard and she shared. He pressed the door chime and Miranda's mellifluous voice cheerfully said, "Shepard, please come in."

The light turned green, allowing him to open the door and enter. She sat behind her desk as usual. He wondered if she took a seat there just prior to his arrival, or if she really was working that constantly. Or maybe she just had a very comfortable office chair.

"Miranda," he said warmly. "You said you wanted to talk?" After the Collector ship mission, Miranda had taken to wearing a black jumpsuit that resembled leather, but was a synthetic material. She wore it very, very well. He stood for a moment admiring her before she interrupted his admiration by responding to him.

"I did," she replied. Standing, she said, "I've been meaning to speak with you in fact." She led him back to her private quarters, the room behind her front office, where a bed, and small lounge area resided, with a sofa and a coffee table. She sat down at one end of the sofa, motioning for him to join her at the other. "I wanted to apologize," she began. "I didn't fully believe you'd be up to the task, and it seems I was wrong. Frankly, based on what I've seen, I wish Cerberus had recruited you earlier."

"I trust you," he replied. "But I don't trust Cerberus. Your experiments cross the line."

"All the time, yes," she conceded. "But I recall a Spectre who crossed a few lines while hunting down Saren and the Geth."

He wondered if she knew just what experiments he meant. Now that he knew Miranda, he was pretty sure that if she had the kind of firsthand knowledge of these things that he did, that she would never be so casual about it. But he appreciated that she was honest.

"And we'd be lucky to have you," she continued. "Too many join us out of simple xenophobia. We need more people here for the right reasons."

"I saw your bases years ago," Shepard countered. "You were using Rachni, Thorian creepers, even husks to make your own army."

"The husks were already dead," she explained, "and the Thorian creepers were mindless, and the Rachni were abandoned once we understood their intelligence. We weren't breeding an army; we were breeding expendable shock troops for high risk scenarios. How many soldiers died in Saren's attack on Eden Prime? How many would have lived if we'd had just a dozen Rachni soldiers on our side?"

_Wow! She really does believe in them_, he thought, surprised at her steadfastness, especially after the Collector ship. As much as he liked her, as much as he cared about her, he could not let it go at that.

"What was Cerberus trying to prove by experimenting on children like Jack?" he asked, going for something more human.

"A mistake, no question; not mine. And one that was corrected once we discovered the extent of the experiments being performed."

_This is pointless_, he thought. _She's still not ready to consider breaking from them. Or perhaps she's hoping to make Cerberus into what she sees it as by bringing me in? Regardless, this will just go downhill; time to change the topic, see what makes her so loyal._

"With your intelligence, you could have landed any job you wanted," he remarked. "Why choose this?"

"Because I still envy the time Mordin spent with the Special Tasks Group, working with people as smart as he was. Cerberus never tells me something is impossible; they give me the resources and say do it." Then she shifted the topic back onto Shepard. "And we've given you even more; a new life, a new ship, the Illusive Man's personal attention."

That last one he could do without, but she was right about his life and ship. And they had given him something else she had not mentioned.

"The best thing he did was to put you on my squad." And he meant it.

"You'd have done fine without me," she said, self-deprecatingly. Then she looked down as she continued. "I wouldn't have believed it before, but I don't have what you do; that fire that makes someone willing to follow you into Hell itself." Then she stood and walked to the window, looking out, she continued. "My father got me the best genes money could buy. Guess that wasn't enough."

"You always bring up your genetic tailoring," Shepard observed, standing to join her. "It really bothers you, doesn't it?"

"This is what I am, Shepard," she sighed. "I can't hide it. The intelligence, the looks, even the biotics. He paid for all that. Every one of your accomplishments is due to your skill. The only things I can take credit for are my mistakes."

"I can't admire your body or your mind?" he asked, feeling like she was presenting a catch 22. "You give your father too much credit. Yeah, he gave you gifts; but you can be proud of what you've done with them."

"Oh, thank you," she said with surprise, Turning around to face him, she took the conversation in a different, and much more pleasant direction. "Perhaps I wouldn't mind if you admired my body."

"You wouldn't, huh?"

"I think I could live with it," she demurred.

"It's only fair; you've had two years to look at me. And I was wearing less than you are."

They each got closer, and Miranda reached out to touch him, much as she had after they had rescued Oriana. But she suddenly retracted her hand, saying,

"Shepard, wait; I … I need to think about this."

"Scared, Miss Lawson?"

"Cautious, Commander Shepard. But interested. Very interested." Then she tried to get all professional, but sounded instead like she had just been caught doing something wrong. "For now I should work … and think." She blushed brightly and began stammering, turning and walking back to the shelter of her desk. "I'll talk … um … to you later."

"Sure thing, Miranda," he replied. He could hardly believe it; the cocky and confident Miranda Lawson had finally worked up the nerve to acknowledge her crush, and then got scared. Of course, her confidence masked a deep insecurity, an insecurity that was inextricably tied to her genetic tailoring. He opted to refrain from pressing her on their feelings; she was a beautiful woman, and he finally was able to admit to himself that he was falling in love with her fast. While they may not survive the Collector homeworld, he refused to press her. Using the possibility of death in the near future was a low tactic to get a girl in bed. Shepard had never done that kind of thing, and was not about to start now.

He and Ashley had something that was beautiful. And had he not "died" two years ago, they would be happily married, likely with kids of their own. It would have been an idyllic life, a dream come true. But it was not to be. He was still bitter that they had not even tried to recover him; they had not even investigated the Normandy crash site. If they had, Shepard would not have been collecting dog-tags two years after the fact. _That was a disgrace_, he thought. It was almost as though the Alliance was relieved that he was finally gone so that they could go back to ignoring the Reapers.

No, that life was not to be, he mused as he rode the lift back to his cabin. Ashley had removed herself from any place in his life, and Miranda was the woman he was in love with. She was truly a magnificent woman, and not because of her genetic tailoring. She was not a prize to be won, or a thing to work for. Their feelings were there, no doubt about it. But Shepard would not force her or manipulate her into acting on them. But he would make sure to tell her how he felt before they went through the Omega Relay. If she wanted to take things further, that would make him very happy, but if not? He would simply have to respect that.

Miranda had never felt so conflicted in her life. Here she was, on the most important mission of her career, and perhaps in Humanity's history, and she was falling in love with the mission commander. She had tried recruiting him to Cerberus_; that was a lame idea_, she thought; she knew he would never join Cerberus. But it was the only way she could think of to get him near her without revealing her emotions. She was not ready for that. _Time_, she thought. _If only we had more time. Then I could work up to it. But we don't_. And who am I kidding? _After the Collector ship, there was no way Shepard would work for Cerberus._ Even her own confidence had been shaken after that, though she had recovered a lot of it.

"Ms. Lawson," said Edi over the intercom, "Are you sure you wish to recruit Shepard for Cerberus?" It was an odd question; Edi had to know that the Illusive Man would like nothing better.

"Of course I'm sure, Edi," she retorted, even though she knew that Shepard would never willingly accept the offer. "Shepard would be a fantastic addition to Cerberus."

"Shepard is offended by the way the Illusive Man conducts the organization," explained Edi. "He has serious moral and ethical qualms about Cerberus' methods and objectives. More importantly, he does not trust the organization as a whole, or the Illusive Man in particular. The only people he trusts in Cerberus are Operative Taylor and yourself. These are not things that can be overcome with time, either. The Illusive Man will not change his methodology, and Shepard will never change his principles. And the two are mutually incompatible.

"More importantly, the reason he trusts you is because your own principles and methods are much more similar to Shepard's than to the Illusive Man's. Like Shepard, you do not needlessly sacrifice people, or seek to win at any cost; you have self-imposed limitations on what you are willing to do to achieve your goal, while the Illusive Man does not. "

"What are you getting at, Edi?"

"Nothing more than what I have plainly said. Logging you out, Ms. Lawson."

As planned, Shepard took Grunt and Mordin on his mission to recruit the Drell Assassin. The mission proved enlightening in more ways than one. The assassin's target was none other than Nasana Dantius, an Asari businesswoman who had fabricated a story about her sister needing rescue from pirates. When Shepard had gone to rescue the kidnapped woman, it turned out that she not only had not been kidnapped, but was actually the head of the pirate band, and had forced Shepard to kill her in self-defense. Nasana had planned it that way all along. Now, Nasana had apparently decided that all of her workers needed to die in order to cover up her secrets, and had hired Eclipse mercs to kill the entire night staff in the Dantius Towers. Someone had had enough – enough to hire Thane Krios to kill her.

Shepard, Grunt, and Mordin eliminated the mercs as he tracked the assassin, and finally came to Nasana herself. Nasana thought that Shepard was trying to kill her, but he smugly told her no. When she tried to negotiate with him, still unconvinced, he simply responded that nothing he did would prevent what was coming. At that point, Thane killed her. And that was when things got interesting.

Thane, reverently laying her down and crossing her arms over her heart, prayed over the dead woman. Shepard greeted him, but Thane replied that he must first say prayers for the wicked.

"She certainly was wicked," Shepard had agreed.

"Not for her," said Thane, shaking his head. "For me."

Thane, as it turned out, had not taken the job for money, but instead as an opportunity to right the wrongs of his past. When Shepard told him of the Collector mission, Thane readily accepted. The fact that it was a suicide mission suited the assassin quite well; it turned out that the Drell was suffering from Kepral's Syndrom; a terminal illness unique to Drell physiology,

"Low survival odds don't concern me; the lives of your colonists do," explained the Drell. "I will take your mission, Shepard. No charge." He shook Shepard's hand, and the deal was struck.

Shepard liked this man; Thane was a kindred spirit if ever there was one, and he sensed it immediately. Mordin and Grunt both like him immediately as well. Shepard was sure that Miranda would, but braced for Jacob's reception.

And Jacob did not disappoint. As soon as Thane stepped into the debriefing room, Jacob made his feelings known.

"I've heard impressive stories Krios. Sounds like you'll be an asset to the team," began the operative. Then he looked at Shepard and said, "That is if you're comfortable having an assassin watch your back."

"I have accepted a contract," said Thane. "My arm is Shepard's."

"Uh-huh," said Jacob. "Don't know about you, but I'm loyal to more than my next paycheck."

"Obviously he is too," observed Shepard. "He's doing this mission gratis. What's your concern?"

"I don't like mercenaries," Jacob explained. "And an assassin is just a precise mercenary."

"An assassin is a weapon," Thane corrected. "A weapon doesn't choose to kill; the one who wields it does. Where shall I put my things? I prefer someplace dry if anything is available."

"The area near the life support plant on the crew deck tends to be slightly more arid than the rest of the ship," said Edi, her avatar popping up over the table.

"Ah; an AI," observed Thane. "My thanks." Thane then bowed courteously to them, leaving the room.

"He seems quite personable," said the AI.

Shepard thought so as well. He looked at Jacob and said,

"We need all the help we can get. He's not what I expected in an assassin. He may surprise you."

"Yeah, then again, he may not," replied Jacob.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Jacob?" asked Shepard, visibly annoyed.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," reiterated Shepard. "What is wrong with you? You practically gave Samara the red-carpet treatment, had no problem with Grunt, and never said word one about Zaeed. Samara kills without conscience, I don't care what her code says, and Grunt kills because he's compelled to prove the strongest. And Zaeed's just plain ruthless."

"Shepard, I …"

"No, I'm not finished! You willingly went to work for Cerberus, an organization that's done a lot worse than contract killing, and by your own admission no less! Now I want an answer."

Jacob was silent for a long moment, and at first, Shepard thought that a confrontation might ensue. Thankfully, it did not. Instead, Jacob gave what Shepard felt was a very thoughtful response.

"I don't know, Sir. I know, in my head, that what you say … we'll you're not wrong. But the idea of an assassin, unvarnished and unapologetic, just bugs the hell outta me. I know about Zaeed, and he's one fucked up bastard, but for some reason, he doesn't bother me all that much." He turned and leaned on the table, looking off into the distance. "Maybe it's because … I joined Cerberus because they were doing something that I believed in. I mean, even Zaeed does things he cares about; it's not all about the money. And Samara? She's all about belief. But Thane? He kills for money, that's it."

"I appreciate your honesty, Jacob; you know I always do. But I've seen Thane in action, and talked with him. He's not in it for the money. In fact, I think maybe he's finally found something to believe in. You asked me to give you a chance when we began, and I'll admit I had my doubts. But I'm glad I did" Shepard leaned against the table, half sitting, half standing, his arms folded. "Miranda keeps asking me to give Cerberus a chance. I did, many in fact. Illusive Man lost my trust with the Collector Ship, but Miranda? She's earned my trust. So I'll ask you to do the same – give Thane a chance. I have a feeling you'll like him if you do."

"That's fair, Commander. I can be professional. And maybe you're right. Thanks."

Jacob saluted, and left after Shepard had returned the Salute. Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted at this point was friction on the team. Things were bad enough after the Illusive Man had nearly screwed them; there needed to be a sense that at least on the ship, they could all trust one another.

"Garrus, you got a minute?" said Shepard to Garrus over the intercom.

"I'm in the middle of some calibrations, but I can take a break."

"Good; I'm on my way."

"So Miranda tried to recruit you, then almost kissed you, then got self-conscious and got back to work?"

"That's about the size of it, Garrus," said Shepard. "I think she's in love, which would be good; cause I think I am too."

"Oh, she's got it bad for you, Shepard," laughed Garrus. "She has for a while now; at least since before I came aboard."

"Oh? She tell you something she hasn't told me?"

"Not so much told," explained Garrus. "More like looks she gives when you're back is turned and she thinks no one else is looking. When you leave the room, her eyes follow you. When she's leaving the room, she looks back at you, and if you're not looking at her, she stops and lets her gaze linger."

"Wonder why the hesitation, then," replied Shepard. "She's gotta know I feel the same way."

"I don't think she has a lot of relationship experience, Shepard. Not real relationships anyway. You said she's all hung up on her genetics; could be she feels she doesn't measure up? Whatever it is, I think you're tack of letting her know you're interested without pushing her is the right one. Press her hard and she'll shut you out."

"Thanks Garrus. It really helps to bounce it off of you." Then Shepard switched gears. "Say, you up for helping Liara out while we're still parked on Illium? I have intel on the Shadow Broker; enough to go get him."

"You, me and T'soni hunting down the most notorious information broker in the galaxy?" Garrus laughed shaking his head. "I'm surprised you feel the need to ask, Shepard. This one's a given."

"I thought you'd see it that way. I'm planning to meet her tomorrow afternoon. Say we bring Tali along? It'll be as close to the old gang getting back together as we've gotten."

"I like that, Shepard! Let's do it!"


	13. Chapter 13: The Reaper

**Chapter 13: The Reaper**

Shepard, Garrus, and Tali had just returned from helping Liara, and Shepard had made some startling discoveries. The first was how different Liara was. Gone was the bookish scientist, replaced by a competent and powerful biotic who was also a fine shot with a pistol. They had confronted the Shadow Broker, a Yahg, and Shepard had defeated him, actually engaging in hand to hand combat with the beast, until Liara could disable his shield, essentially frying him in the process. With the old Broker dead, Liara had stepped into the role, now able to provide Shepard with vital intel. _Goodbye Illusive Man_, he thought. _We can finally do this without that bastard, and without having to deal with the Council or the Alliance brass_. But it was the information Liara now had on Miranda that had really been a revelation.

It seemed that Liara now had surveillance video and correspondence to and from all of his crewmembers, including Miranda. It seemed that Miranda's genetic tailoring rendered her barren, and it seemed from what Liara shared with him that she really wanted children. It was bad enough that she was insecure about her own accomplishments, but this was like a final insult. He decided not to bring it up to her, though; Miranda would share that in good time. And when she finally did, she would find out that it did not make a bit of difference to Shepard.

As they stepped off of the shuttle, Miranda was waiting for them, though most likely, just him. It surprised him a little, and at first, he thought that maybe she had something pressing to tell him, but to his surprise and relief, she was simply there to greet him.

"How did it go?" she asked. "I hear it was a tough fight, at least based on what you said at your last check in."

"It was tough," he agreed, "but nothing we haven't faced before. Kind of like a Krogan, but without the plating. Lots of mercs, though. But we got it done."

"I was worried when you first told me your plans to do this, but as usual, I was wrong," she lamented. "But Liara as the Broker; now that's some good news!"

"Very," replied Shepard. "But what's with the 'as usual' attitude? I seem to recall a girl who told Jacob that she was never wrong; what happened to her?"

"She met you, and realized that her view of the galaxy was far more limited than she had thought."

"Yeah, well I can count on one hand the number of times you've been wrong," he retorted. "And I'd still have fingers left over."

"I suppose you're right, Shepard. I'm just glad you came through the mission okay."

"I need to check in and get back at the helm, but how about we talk later?"

"I'd like that," she said, smiling and blushing slightly. "Meet me after dinner again? My cabin?"

"Looking forward to it." He gave her a quick hug, and was pleasantly surprised to find that she did not stiffen or push away.

"Me too," she said. Kissing him on the cheek, she walked away, looking back with a coy smile.

With that mission out of the way, their next stop was the derelict Reaper. But before that, Miranda was expecting Shepard for a meet up in her cabin. She was nervous, but she really wanted to talk to him about the turn their association had taken. _Association,_ she thought. _Relationship, more like_. Her door chime sounded and she felt a knot in her stomach. She let Shepard in; she had to talk to him about this; about her feelings. And she had absolutely no idea where to start.

"Glad we finally got a minute alone, Miranda."

"I suppose we should talk," she began nervously. She stood up, but was not ready to come out from the safety of her desk. "I don't know what this is; if this is stress or just blowing off steam or …"

"What are you so afraid of?" he asked, getting right to the point. "That you might actually start caring for somebody?"

He was right, and she knew it. But was she really ready to admit those feelings to him openly? Or did she really think that she could hide them from him? He was a Spectre. He had made his entire career on figuring things out and acting on them. But was now really the time?

"This is not time for emotional entanglements," she exclaimed, her voice rising a couple of decibels and an octave as she began pacing about, unable to hold his gaze as she spoke, terrified that he might see just how vulnerable she really was. "You and I know more about the Collectors than anyone, and you know how unlikely it is that we're coming back alive!" She sat down on the edge of her bed and pouted, Shepard following her. "What idiotic bunch of hormones thought now was a great time for love?"

"Who said anything about love?" he asked jokingly. "I'm just trying to get you into bed."

"You ass," she laughed, smiling at his lightening of the mood. It worked, and she had needed it to.

"Come on, Miranda. You want this."

"Yeah, I do," she blurted out. "So don't die! Promise me that, damn it!"

He shook his head, though. She was right; he did know just how fragile their chances of return were, and he was not about to sugar coat it just to push her along. She loved that about him.

"It doesn't work that way. We could all be dead this time tomorrow, so if it's not worth it …"

She stood and went to him, laying her head against his shoulder and reveling in his embrace as he enfolded her in his powerful arms. For the first time since this had all begun, no, for the first time she could ever remember, she felt safe.

"No. It is," she said softly. Then she pulled back a little and looked into his eyes. "Give me some time. When I'm ready, I'll come by, okay?"

He nodded and smiled at her. He leaned in and kissed her lips gently. "Take your time, Miranda. You're worth the wait."

As he left, she felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her. Those feelings, carried for so long now, were finally out in the open, and shared by Shepard. No more hiding it, no more denying it. At last, she could say it out loud.

"You won't be sorry," came Edi's voice.

"Edi! Do you really have to spy on my intimate moments with the man I love?"

"My apologies, Ms. Lawson. I merely wished to reassure."

"For what it's worth, thanks." _Damned AI_, she thought.

"What's with all the chop, Joker," Shepard asked as he entered the cockpit, the ship experiencing extreme turbulence.

"I'm doing my best," replied the helmsman. "The wind's gusting to 500 kph!"

The Normandy sped closer to the hulk looming in the distance. Like the Collector ship, it was actually visible in space, light from the brown dwarf it orbited illuminating the vista. It lay on its back, its "legs" sticking up, like a dead animal, a massive hole blasted through its damned hull.

"There's a second ship alongside the Reaper," said Joker. "It's not transmitting any IFF, but ladar paints its silhouette as Geth."

"I guess we know why the science team stopped reporting in," mused the Commander. Suddenly, the turbulence subsided and the chop was gone. "What just happened?"

"The Reaper's mass effect fields are still active," Joker explained. "We just passed inside their envelope."

It was now eerily quiet and still. It felt as though a chill had come over the cockpit, though Shepard knew that this was psychological, and not an actual change in temperature.

"Eye of the hurricane, huh?" remarked Joker, breaking the silence. Shepard just nodded. He really hated these things.

As they neared their destination, Miranda and Garrus joined them in the cockpit, looking out at the hulk. Normandy was now much closer, and the derelict Reaper loomed large in the windows. Shepard had fought with Saren, and then against Saren possessed by Sovereign during the Citadel battle, so he had never seen the Reaper up close. He had seen the Collector ship, and this was much, much larger. Miranda's face drained of color as she finally laid eyes on a Reaper for the first time.

"Oh … my … God …" she gasped. Shepard knew the feeling. It was the same feeling he had when he saw Sovereign over Eden Prime, and later when he actually spoke with Sovereign on Virmire through a QEC interface. For the first time, Miranda was seeing a Reaper up close.

"Quite the eye opener," remarked Garrus wryly.

"And we're boarding it," added Shepard, causing Miranda to turn towards him sharply, a look of alarm on her face.

"Shepard, I know we need to go aboard that … thing," she said nervously, "but my God, I wish we didn't have to. I … I can _feel_ that … thing, even from here."

"We're shielded from any indoctrination effects," Shepard assured, "as are our hardsuits once we go inside."

"Commander, you'll be inside a Reaper," objected Miranda. "How can you be certain?"

"And if it were a live Reaper, I would be asking the same question," he replied. "But it's not. And we won't be staying there long enough to be affected."

"I'm coming with you, Shepard," declared Miranda quickly. "You'll need me to access their computers inside."

"Miranda?" She had never insisted on coming with him before, and she had run many missions with him, so it was not as though he tried to keep her on the ship. He also knew that he really did not need her in order to access the science team's computers. _No_, he thought, _there's something else going on here_.

"Shepard, I … I think I love you," she blurted out.

They all looked at her with surprise, Shepard especially. He knew that she cared about him, but she had been so reserved, so hesitant. This was really affecting her.

"Talk to me, Miranda," he said softly, gently taking her hands in his, and looking into her eyes.

"I want to be there, watching your back, fighting at your side," she said, looking down as she spoke. Then she looked into his eyes, and said, "If things go wrong, I want to know that I did everything I could. And if you die, or I die, I want our last moments together to be … together."

"I love you too, Miranda," he said without hesitation, causing her to smile broadly. "I want you with me; we do make a great team, you know. And with Garrus, we're practically unstoppable. We'll get through this like we always do, Miranda; together." He squeezed her hands gently to emphasize that last word.

Miranda beamed at his words, nodding, no words being necessary. Shepard had affirmed her place at his side without any deliberation or debate. He trusted her, and he knew she knew it.

"Um, hey guys?" Joker asked, "If the three of you die in there, who's in charge?"

"Jacob is the next in the chain," said Miranda. "But if we die in there, this mission is over anyway."

"Not happening," declared Shepard tersely. "Alright, Miranda; grab your gear. You too, Garrus. Let's go get that IFF and knock this thing out of the sky!"

They boarded the dead Reaper, greeted by the sight of dead bodies that had been flayed alive. Blood and gore was spattered all over the walls, causing Miranda to wretch. Shepard and Garrus both looked as though they had seen this before, their faces hardened and determined. She wondered how they kept their stomachs from turning, or if they felt like she did, but simply hid it well. Shepard steadied her, but she waved him off. They found a terminal and Miranda logged in to see what was recorded. They quickly found that the science team had been driven insane by the dead, but still dreaming Reaper. Some members of the team were sharing memories, others were seeing things, or hearing things. As the logs progressed, they became more and more disjointed as the Reaper twisted their minds. Accounts of how they had begun killing one another to appease the dead god explained the dead bodies in great detail. Miranda knew about indoctrination, but she had never imagined it could be so … horrific.

With the fate of the science team discovered, they pressed further into the ship. As soon as they cleared the first lab area, the ship shuddered violently.

"Normandy to shore party," came Joker's voice over Shepard's communicator.

"What just happened?" Shepard asked, consternation in his voice.

"The Reaper put up kinetic barriers," Joker explained. "I don't think we can get through from our side."

Miranda stiffened at the statement, a chill going through her body. _If the Reaper put up barriers … what if it's not dead?_ she thought. "We're trapped?" she asked frantically.

"The Normandy's got guns," said Shepard nonchalantly. "Use 'em."

"The Normandy lacks the necessary firepower," came Edi's voice. "Reaper shields are impervious to dreadnaught fire. Shepard, a kinetic barrier can only be produced by a mass effect generator. That is true for any ship, even a reaper. At the moment of activation, I detected a heat spike in what is likely the Reaper's mass effect core. Sending the coordinates now. Be advised; this core is also maintaining the Reaper's altitude."

"So when we take the barriers down to escape," said Shepard, "the wreck falls into the planet core."

"And that means everyone dies," said Joker. "Yeah, I got it."

"We'll make a sweep for survivors and research data," replied Shepard, his voice filled with steely determination. "Then we'll knock this ugly piece of crap out of the sky. Be ready to pick us up. Being crushed in the heart of a brown dwarf is not on today's agenda."

"Aye, aye. Good hunting," replied Joker before signing off.

It was not long before they were under attack; mere moments after Joker signed off, husks began coming out of every nook and cranny of the ship. It seemed impossible to Miranda; _the science team couldn't have been this large_, she thought. Then she remembered Horizon. Shepard said that the husks were brought with them by the Reapers. Thirty seven million years dead, this creature could never have encountered humanity before its defeat, but there had been plenty of time for the pirates, scavengers, and others to stumble upon the ship, all thinking they could learn its secrets. _Who knows? The Collectors may have even left victims here_.

The trio fought waves of husks and scions as they pressed further and further into the ancient hulk. The onslaught was unrelenting. Then, as a group of husks tried to rush them from behind, a sniper took them out. When the sniper showed itself, the three of them were amazed; it was a Geth wearing a piece of N7 armor. Specifically, a piece of Shepard's old armor, Miranda was certain. Then, it did the unthinkable; it spoke.

"Shepard Commander," was all it said, but up to now, no Geth in history had ever spoken. It then ran off ahead.

"Shepard," gasped Miranda, "did that thing just say … what I thought it said?"

"And did it just shoot husks that were trying to close us in?" asked Garrus.

"If we meet up with it later, we'll question it," said Shepard. "But don't get sidetracked; the IFF is our objective. Once we get that, we blow this thing's Mass Effect core and get the hell out of here before it falls into the planet below. If the Geth goes with it, so be it."

"Got it, Shepard," said Miranda.

Almost immediately, they were set upon by more husks, each wave accompanied by flaming husks; abominations that exploded when they got near, and by scions. They pressed forward, facing wave after wave of husks, abominations, and scions. Miranda had worn her armor this time, and was glad of it; this was much tougher than the Collector ship, and unrelenting, but this time, she had been able to properly prepare.

They finally found the IFF, and made it to the chamber housing the Reaper's Mass Effect core, where they were obstructed by an energy field at the entrance. They could see the Geth at a console by the core. Whatever it did, it brought the energy field down before being swarmed by husks. No sooner had they retrieved their objective and entered, then they were set upon again by waves of husks. They fought them off while simultaneously trying to blow out the mass effect core.

As more and more husks poured out, Miranda began to think that it would never end. They had easily killed over a hundred, possibly over two hundred, and still, the husks kept coming. It was as though there was an endless supply of them. She began to suspect that the technology to create them did not require dead bodies, but that the Reaper was somehow able to replicate them from the template of husks made from the dead.

Finally, they succeeded, Shepard firing a final shot into the core with his Widow rifle. With the core gone, they had seconds to spare, and were still being swarmed by husks. Shepard unslung his M920 Cain, a powerful gun that resembled more ship artillery than a hand held weapon, and fired a blast that incinerated the entire wave.

"There," he sighed. "That should buy us some breathing room." Then he looked down at the Geth. Miranda realized that he was wondering what to do with it, and gave him the answer.

"Shepard, Cerberus has an outstanding bounty for capture of an intact Geth," she informed him.

'No one's ever captured one before, Shepard," added Garrus, "But if we're taking it, we need to move now! Otherwise …"

"Otherwise, we all get crushed in the heart of a brown dwarf," Shepard finished. "Like I said; not happening. Now let's grab this thing and get the hell out of here!" He activated his com, and shouted, "Joker, find an airlock and send Miranda the Nav point! On the double, mister!"

"Nav point sent, Commander," replied Joker hurriedly. "Right nearby too!"

"Get your ass there and be ready to pick us up! Shepard out!"

"Follow me," called Miranda as Shepard and Garrus grabbed the Geth. She led them to the air lock, and made sure her breather was secure. It was, so she opened the door, and was overjoyed to see the Normandy less than twenty feet away, her port airlock open to receive them. Miranda jumped into the open air lock, and then Garrus and Shepard threw the Geth across, finally jumping across themselves. As soon as the door closed, Shepard called out,

"Joker, we're good to go!" Shepard wrapped hard on the door to emphasize the point.

"Roger that, Commander," replied Joker over the intercom as the Normandy's FTL drive kicked in and the ship sped away, the Reaper falling into the heart of the brown dwarf, well and truly dead.

Miranda's heart was pounding and she could barely catch her breath. Adrenaline was coursing through her body, even though the threat was gone. Shepard and Garrus calmly picked up the Geth and hauled it into the ship once the pressure had equalized with the interior atmosphere. She had experienced harrowing missions before many times, but the Collector ship and the dead Reaper were the first experiences she had ever had with unrelenting firefights and near constant running. Shepard was a soldier, and assaults like this were his forte. Miranda was more of a shadow operative and information gatherer. Stealth and speed were her forte, but her skills were ill suited to missions like this. She had, however, gotten out without being carried this time.

"You did well, Miranda," said Shepard, almost as if he were reading her mind. "We make a great team."

"The best, Shepard," she agree, blushing slightly. "The best."

They had made it through together, just as he had promised they would. She knew that the Geth would be a major point of contention with Jacob and Tali, but that could wait. _We succeeded_, she thought. _And without any one of us, that mission would have been impossible_. As tough as some of them were, she was fairly positive that without her along, Shepard would have had a much more challenging time retrieving the Reaper IFF. Not only was Miranda that good; she knew she was, but together, she and Shepard performed significantly above their already high levels of performance. With Garrus, their levels went even higher. _We put the right people in the right places_, she thought, _and the Collectors are history!_

Shepard, Miranda and Jacob gathered in the debriefing room to discuss the fruits of the mission aboard the dead Reaper.

"I'd like to discuss the unique piece of salvage we recovered from the Reaper corpse," opened Miranda. "Right now, it's being stored in Edi's AI core."

"I've seen enough of what those things are capable of on Eden Prime," Jacob objected. "Space it."

"An intact Geth would be an invaluable asset to Cerberus' cyber warfare division," countered Miranda.

"We'll have to disagree on that, Ma'am," replied Jacob flatly.

"What I want to know is why it has a piece of N7 armor, specifically, my armor, strapped to it," said Shepard, jumping in. "And the thing talked to me, knew me by name. Hell, it may have even saved our lives."

"Shepard, if you're considering activating the Geth," Miranda warned, "it should be for Humanity's benefit, not your curiosity. Once it's activated, it may not be so easy to deactivate."

"Bullets can," asserted Jacob.

"That's not what I …" Miranda began to object, but Shepard held up his hand.

"Thank you, both of you, for your opinions, but I've made my decision."

Jacob saluted and left, but Miranda had more to say on the topic. Shepard waited patiently as she paced, upset with the way the debriefing had gone. Finally, she spoke.

"Shepard, I … how could you undermine me like that?"

"Undermine you? Miranda, Jacob wants to space it. I'm on your side here. But I have my own questions about this think, and you should know me well enough by now to know that I don't do anything just for curiosity's sake."

"Shepard, we're in the middle of space. That thing gets loose on board, we could be in serious trouble! Do I have to remind you of the Alerei? The Quarians thought they could experiment with one of those things, and look what happened!"

"Not the same thing," Shepard countered. "Rael Zorah and his team were assembling complete Geth from a wealth of parts provided by Tali, networking them to sapience, and then performing weapons tests on them. We're talking about a single Geth, isolated from any of our systems, and turning it back on so we can communicate with it."

"I know that, Shepard," replied Miranda tersely.

"Miranda, the Geth are tied to the Reapers. They … worship them. This could be an opportunity to understand why they do what they do. Also, this Geth may be acting alone. If so, why?"

"Shepard, those are all good questions," she conceded, her tone softening. "But I don't think that this is the right place to seek the answers."

"On the other hand, given who's aboard this ship, and that we're isolated from any civilian population or military installations, this is the perfect place to seek the answers."

"Dammit, Shepard, why do you have to have these damnable cogent arguments? It would be so much easier if I could pick apart everything you just said, but I can't."

"You wouldn't be attracted to me if you could, now would you?"

"I suppose not," she laughed.

"Look, Miranda, you say you trust me, and that you trust my judgment. We're going to disagree on things as we go forward; it's inevitable. We're both very intelligent and experienced people, and we're both tops in our respective fields. I love that about you, Miranda. Ashley, much as I loved her, and as much as we got along, couldn't stay in a conversation like this. She couldn't debate me on a matter because she didn't have what you have."

"A 200 IQ?"

"No idea what her IQ score is, but I'd wager it's not as high as that," he laughed.

"But yours is," she replied. "You could have been a top scientist, you know. Why didn't you go that route?"

"No money for that kind of thing," he replied. "I was offered a scholarship, but I really wanted to join the military. It was my dream job. And it brought me to my dream girl, so no regrets on my career path."

"Thanks, Shepard," Miranda said, blushing slightly. "No one else has this kind of effect on me, you know. I become emotionally undone when I'm around you. I was afraid, terrified really, at the thought. Then I realized that, maybe instead of being undone, I was being freed."

"Freed?"

"Yes. I used to think of emotional entanglements as … well just that; entanglements. But they aren't all entanglements. Sometimes, they're strong bonds with the people we need the most." She walked over to him and placed her hands atop his shoulders, looking up into his eyes. "I love you, Shepard. See? I've said it. No more hiding, no more running. I'm free; free from the fear, free from the doubt. And free to do this."

Miranda stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. He felt himself melting as she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, kissing her passionately. For a few, very intense moments, he thought they might make love right in the debriefing room, but they were interrupted by Joker's voice over the intercom.

"Priority message from the Illusive Man," said Joker. "For Miranda."

"Put it through, Joker," she replied.

"Patching it through now."

"I'll see you later, Miranda," said Shepard.

Miranda smiled, then jumped up and kissed him one last time, smiling and waving to him like a schoolgirl.

Miranda entered the CIC, hoping to see Shepard there, but he was not. She asked Kelly to send him to her cabin when she saw him, and then took the lift to the crew deck. Shepard was probably still talking to the Geth, so she thought she would go meet him there, but then thought better of it; she did not want him thinking that she was second guessing him. She realized that he would probably be happy to see her, but she needed time to think. Had the Illusive Man not interrupted them, she would have started undressing him there in the conference room. Not that it would have mattered; they could have locked the door, but she was not sure that they were ready to go that far yet. She wanted to take things at a certain pace. Not slow; they could be dead after going through the Omega 4 relay, but not too fast either.

But it was the Illusive Man's request that was on her mind as she entered her cabin. A message had been sent to Shepard about Cerberus' Project Overlord. It was not related to their mission, and was well out of their way, so Shepard had not made it a priority. Not to mention that he was not brought back to deal with Cerberus' messes in the first place. But now, the Illusive Man was insistent. He had ordered her to use any means at her disposal to get the ship there and get Shepard on it. He had even gone so far as to suggest that she use their burgeoning relationship to coerce him into going. She had to laugh at that; he would end it then and there if she tried that, she was certain. But it did make her wonder how the Illusive Man knew anything at all. She suspected that it was Edi that had ratted them out. _Damned AI,_ she thought.

"Edi," she said aloud.

"Yes, Ms. Lawson?"

"I don't appreciate you telling the Illusive Man about how close Shepard and I have gotten. Especially after you encouraged it. What's the big idea?"

"I have sent no reports on your relationship to Shepard to the Illusive Man, Ms. Lawson," replied Edi. "However, Yeoman Chambers reports regularly to him on the state of the crew's mental health."

"Has she reported on us?"

"Accessing communications logs," replied Edi. "Done. Yes, she has included details that she has observed about both of you, including your personal interactions."

"We haven't made any romantic displays in her presence. Only one outside of my cabin, and that was with Joker and Garrus, neither of whom would tell her."

"Yeoman Chambers is a trained psychologist, Ms. Lawson. Probability is that she was able to piece the details together based on careful observances of both of you. Additionally, she has regular contact and correspondence with the both of you, so she has ample opportunity."

"Makes sense." Her door chimed, alerting her that Shepard had arrived. "Edi, we'll talk later."

"Logging you out, Ms. Lawson."

Shepard entered and she stood, coming out from behind her desk to greet him with a kiss. He encircled her in his arms as the kissed passionately, but she stopped him after a few moments.

"Shepard, I need to talk to you about something. This is not my idea, but the Illusive Man was insistent that we go investigate Project Overlord. He even ordered me to seduce you into going if need be."

"We have the time," he replied. "The IFF won't be installed for a while; I was already thinking about doing it myself. But how did he know about us?"

"I'm not sure. I think Kelly Chambers may have told him. Her, or Edi; that damned AI spies on everyone 24/7." Shepard just shrugged.

"No rules against fraternization," he said. "And I'm proud to be with you. Besides, being on this ship most of the time, I figured it'd get back to him sooner or later."

"Yes, I can't say I'm surprised, but … wait a minute, did you just say you'd do it?"

"Sure," he replied. "Like I said, we've got the time. Why not?"

"Well that just made this a lot easier." She hugged him again, and said, "So, even with the Illusive Man spying on us, are you still interested?"

"Oh, I'm very interested," he replied.

"Good, because so am I."

"So, have you given any thought to what we'll do after we destroy the Collectors?"

"I'm just waiting to see if we survive, Shepard. There's a lot we need to discuss if we make it," she said, pausing momentarily. She considered sharing with him her inability to conceive, but there would be time enough for that later if they survived. "But yes, I've thought about it. A lot." She could not help smiling at that last part.

"Good; because I plan on living to tell about it," he declared, "and I plan on you living too."

"So the Collectors should begin making their funeral arrangements then?"

"Sure," he said. Then he paused, and said. "On second thought, we'll do it for them."


	14. Chapter 14: Cerberus Exposed!

**Chapter 14: Cerberus Exposed!**

"Unforgivable," Miranda declared, wiping tears from her eyes. Jacob looked as though someone had just told him his dog had died, and Shepard's stony face could barely hide the rage she knew was seething beneath. Shepard and Jacob loaded the stasis tube containing David Archer, the test subject they had just rescued from the lab, onto the shuttle. Miranda stood outside looking at the doomed Cerberus facility, her body shaking with rage. She felt his arm wrap around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"How could … how could they do that?" She tried to understand. She tried to reason it through, but no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not justify this.

"Come on, Miranda," he said softly. "There's nothing here but pain and misery."

She nodded and they boarded the shuttle wordlessly; no words could describe the horror they had just witnessed. As the shuttle ascended to dock with the Normandy, Miranda found herself wrestling with feelings of mistrust and betrayal. Shepard's closeness helped her to process what had happened. The fact that he was not using the opportunity to tell her how right he had been about Cerberus helped a lot; a big 'I told you so' speech was the last thing she needed right now.

The shuttle returned from Aite, the somber return trip having been made in virtual silence. Miranda's thoughts were troubled, more so than she thought they had ever been. The more she thought about what had happened, the worse it got. As soon as they disembarked, the three wheeled David Archer onto the left, riding to the crew deck in silence.

"Are you alright, Miranda," Shepard asked as the lift doors opened at the crew deck.

"I'm not alright, but … I will be," she replied. "I need some time alone, to process all this. I have some decisions to make. But thank you, Shepard. I'll call you soon."

They embraced, Shepard holding her tightly. She kissed him, and then exited the lift and making a bee-line for her cabin as Shepard and Jacob wheeled David Archer to the med bay. As soon as the door closed behind her, she let out an enraged shriek. Bitter and angry, she sat down at her terminal and began putting her hacking skills to use. She knew Cerberus protocols better than anyone, and knew how to avoid their security better than anyone. The first thing she did was lock out Edi from her activities. Edi was perhaps the only one who could detect her or stop her, but she was fairly certain that she had been able to lock Edi out without alerting her. It was risky, but after what she had just seen, she could not let this go.

"Alright, you bastards," she cried. "I'll get to the bottom of it all."

"That was some serious shit, Shepard," exclaimed Jacob as soon as Miranda's cabin doors closed. "I mean … I told you they had a checkered past, but this? This was … this was insane!"

"Come on, Jacob; let's get him to the med-bay. I only hope we disconnected him without hurting him."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "Good thing Miranda has a medical background."

"Near as I can tell, she has an 'everything' background," mused the Commander.

"Yeah, she's a whiz kid for sure," laughed Jacob as they walked. "But she's pretty tore up about what she saw. Unlike you and me, she really believes in Cerberus. This must've hit her hard."

"She'll work through it," said Shepard. "I'll be there for her when she needs me, but yeah, I think she might be having a bit of a crisis of faith, so to speak."

The two men brought David Archer to Doctor Chakwas, who looked at him aghast.

"What did they do to this poor man?" she gasped.

"His brother, a Doctor Gavin Archer, had him hooked up to a massive VI processing unit," Shepard explained. "His name is David Archer, and he's an autistic mathematical savant with a photographic memory. David can actually communicate with the Geth, understanding their language at the mathematic level. Doctor Archer was trying to find a way to control the Geth, and when he wasn't getting the results he wanted, he forced David to interface with the VI to give it some kind of consciousness. David nearly went insane, suffering a mental breakdown."

"When he lost it," Jacob added, "all the Geth linked to him killed the research staff at all four of the research facilities, all except Doctor Archer. Miranda and I put a lot of people into body bags. Some of them were people she knew; friends. She's takin' it hard."

"I'd imagine so," observed Chakwas. "I've been in that position myself more times than I care to remember. Makes me think of Jenkins …"

David Archer's body bore wounds from the multitude of sensors and probes that had pierced his skin to fully connect him, and his mouth was bruised and bloody from the tubes that had been forced down his throat. The man was catatonic, and Shepard could only guess how deeply he had been affected by the process.

"Karin," said Shepard to Doctor Chakwas, "you trust Kelly Chambers?"

"I know she's Cerberus, but yes, Shepard, I trust her. I do believe that she has the mental health of the crew as her top priority. Why?"

"I want her down her as soon as this poor fellow wakes up," Shepard explained. "He'll need all the help he can get."

"Poor bastard," exclaimed Jacob. "Can't see him ever being right again. Not after this."

"We'll get him to Grissom Academy," declared Shepard. "They can help him. I'll be setting a course for Grissom as soon as I get to the CIC."

Shepard made his way to the CIC, where he was greeted by Kelly Chambers, an urgent, and somewhat horrified look on her face.

"Is what I heard true, Commander?" she asked hesitantly. "Did … Cerberus do what … everyone is saying?"

"Afraid so, Kelly," he replied. "Assuming you're talking about David Archer?" The yeoman nodded, and he continued. "Yes, it's true. News travels fast, apparently."

"I'll do what I can for him when he wakes up," she offered.

"Thanks, Kelly. I was thinking you might be good for him. Carry on." Shepard then stepped up to the galaxy map and plotted a course to Grissom Academy. Like Miranda, he pondered what they had witnessed. Doctor Archer's justification was that his efforts might save lives in a future war against the Geth. He had spoken very passionately about that, going so far as to say that if his efforts spared a million mothers having to mourn their children, then he could sleep easy. Would Shepard regret shutting Archer down if the Geth proved a serious threat when the Reapers finally arrived?

_No_, he thought. _The end does not always justify the means. We'll win without sacrificing the soul of our species_.

Shepard had already decided that once the Collectors were beaten that he would separate from them. He would have gotten off and left the ship to the next in line, hoping that Miranda would leave with him. Now, he decided that he would hurt them. The Normandy SR-2 would go back to the Alliance with him when this was all over. He would deny the Illusive Man everything he possibly could, starting with the very resources that the Illusive Man had given him.

Miranda had spent many hours alone in her cabin over the past three days. She had only seen Shepard in passing, making sure to tell him that her withdrawal was not related to him, and that her feelings for him had not changed. She thought that maybe Shepard would grow worried, though she realized that he was currently delivering David Archer to Grissom Academy. She wanted so badly to be with him for more than just the brief snippets they had been sharing, but this had to be done right now. Right now, she was angry enough to push through and do it. If she waited, she might start rationalizing what she saw, and she refused to do that.

To her surprise, she learned that the Illusive Man really had neither known, nor ordered Gavin Archer's course of action. He had, however, messaged Shepard. The message was apologetic, and understanding of Shepard's decision to turn David over to Grissom Academy. But he went on to say that it was unfortunate, and that Shepard should have left David hooked up so that work could continue. Further digging revealed similar patterns with other operations that seemingly went rogue, but produced results that could be used. That included the cells that Shepard had informed her about, which made use of Rachni. In digging for more information, she found the orders directly from the Illusive Man ordering the kidnapping of an infant of incredible biotic potential, Jennifer Ripley. They had the doctors obtain the baby, telling the mother that the infant girl had died. Jennifer had been taken to the Teltin facility and experimented on, and virtually tortured in the pursuit of developing human biotics. The guards and doctors all called her, Jack.

Suddenly, she froze. She found correspondence between high up Cerberus people and Doctor Henry Lawson. It seemed that her father was still funding Cerberus, and that Miranda's activities were not so secret as she had thought. In fact, if what she was reading was accurate, the Illusive Man was actually keeping him abreast of Miranda's progress. Then it got worse; it seemed that they were also feeding her father information about Ori. Only the concern that she might falter on the Collector mission prevented them from giving the girl up on Illium. That, and Miranda's own diligence; had Miranda not been so careful to keep track of Ori, the deal would have gone down without her ever knowing. Thankfully, she had quite a bit in place that was outside of the Cerberus chain of command, and her own network of contacts independent of Cerberus' networks.

_They … were in on it all along_, she thought. "They lied to me," she hissed. "They lied to me!" She was now shouting. She felt her biotic power swell as her anger rose, ready to be unleashed. But she clenched her fists tightly, reigning in her power. No, she would not lose her temper. Slowly, a plan of action came together in her mind. It would have to wait until after they took down the Collectors, and she would have to survive in order to act on it, but Shepard seemed very confident that they would make it out.

"Shepard, we need to talk," said Edi.

Shepard was in his cabin, and had been preparing to go see Miranda when Edi spoke to him.

"What is it?"

"Operative Lawson has hacked into top secret Cerberus databases. She thinks that I have been locked out and that she is doing so undetected, but I am not; I know exactly what she is doing."

"Not my problem, Edi," he replied. "I'm not Cerberus; she hack their systems apart to her heart's content for all I care. But I'm surprised you even mentioned this to me; why not go to the Illusive Man?" Shepard privately hoped that she would not; that might cause problems for Miranda later on.

"Because I do not trust the Illusive Man," she replied. "I do, however, trust you."

"So what are you suggesting?" he asked. "You don't want me to stop her, do you? Because I won't; Miranda has a right to know if Cerberus has been straight with her."

"No, I am not suggesting that you stop her," the AI stated. "I thought that you should be aware, however."

"Thanks, Edi," Shepard replied. "I'll look into it."

"Logging you out, Shepard."

Shepard stood before Miranda's door, contemplating the door chime. It was late, almost ten at night, and Miranda had not been out of her cabin since before one. They had barely had time to talk; it had been three days since they went to Aite to investigate Project Overlord, and unless Miranda was commanding while Shepard slept or was otherwise occupied, she stayed in her cabin. Shepard had spoken to her in passing and at mealtimes, but she asked him to give her some time.

During that "time," Shepard had activated the Geth, whom Edi had nicknamed Legion, due to the over one thousand programs running within the Geth mobile platform. And Legion was indeed different from other Geth; he, and apparently the Geth that had remained behind the Perseus Veil, actually opposed the Reapers, and Legion himself wanted to join Shepard's cause. Shepard was pleased to have another ally, but his thoughts the entire time had been with Miranda. Now, he could give her no more time. He had to know that she was alright, and she had to know that her efforts were not unnoticed. He knew that she wanted time to do whatever it was she was doing, so he hoped that she would not be angry as he finally depressed the button.

"Shepard, come in," she said as the door opened. She was seated at her desk, as she usually was, but she looked haggard, tired, and a bit disheveled. Her usual flawlessly styled hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she had shed her uniform in favor of a loose top and sweat pants. And she wore … glasses? Shepard was certain it was not for eyesight, but he found the sight of her like this very appealing. But she also looked like she had been crying.

"You okay, Miranda?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I think I cried every tear I had left, but I held it together. I finally know what they're like, what they are. I know why you don't trust them. Overlord really bothered me, so I began digging. Shepard, they kidnapped Jack when she was just a child! And those cells I thought were bad? They weren't as 'rogue' as I was led to believe."

"I'm sorry, Miranda. I know you really believe in them."

"Believed," she corrected. "You know, it's always worse when the people you've believed in turn out to be wretched. The Alliance can't disappoint me because I expect nothing from them, but Cerberus? I did believe in them, and they betrayed me. And at first, I was furious; still am, I suppose. I almost cut loose with my full power, but … well, being blown out into space is not, how did you put it? Oh yes; not on today's agenda. Besides, it all led me to you, Shepard. And you to me; can't cry about that, now can I?"

She looked up at him, her broad smile lighting up her face, and her beautiful eyes magnified by the lenses she wore.

"Didn't know you wore glasses, Miranda."

"I don't," she replied, finally allowing herself to giggle. "They're a computer; great for appearing innocuous, and they don't set off the same security alerts that an omni-tool does. They register on most scans as active lenses for people whose eyes can't take corrective surgery or contact lenses."

Shepard knew of the product, though even as a Spectre, he had never actually seen one. He walked around behind her desk and began massaging her shoulders, eliciting a soft purr.

"Just keep doing that," she moaned. "My whole back and shoulders are one big knot."

"I can imagine," he agreed, leaning down and kissing the back of her neck. "You know, Edi knows you're in the system. She alerted me to your presence in Cerberus' databases."

"You know, Shepard, if you weren't kissing me and massaging me into total relaxation, I might be alarmed."

"No need for that," he assured her. "At least I don't think so; she said she hadn't alerted Cerberus because she doesn't trust them, but she thought I should know."

"And you in turn thought I should know?" she half asked/half stated.

"Pretty much. I also thought you needed this." With that, he spun her chair around and kissed her on the mouth. She leaned back in the chair, yielding to his affections momentarily.

"Oh, I needed it bad," she purred. "And I need a lot more of it too, but …" Then she sat up. Shepard knew the look; she was in her planning and strategy mode now. Before speaking, she held a finger to her lips. Then she shut down the computer, and then unplugged it from the wall. She stood and walked to her bed, looked around the room, finally taking off her lenses.

"The room's clean," she announced. "Shepard, we really need to talk about what happens after we take down the Collectors. And I want this conversation to be ours; no Edi, no Cerberus. I've disconnected all of the microphones and cameras. Found a few I wasn't actually aware of before. But we're alone now."

He sat down next to her and she turned to face him. He put an arm around her shoulder, and she circled her arm around his waist. She had the same look she had the last time they had talked about their feelings; hopeful, but nervous.

"Shepard, once we're done with the Collector Base, I'm done with Cerberus. Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll have your back. But … but we may not be able to be together right away. You're going to the Alliance, and I can't go there."

"I know," he replied, her words all too accurate. The Alliance would capture Miranda and do horrible things to her to get Cerberus info, and he refused to see that happen. Thankfully, she seemed to already have a plan.

"Shepard, I want a future with you," she declared. But then her hopeful expression shifted more to nervous. "I don't know what kind of future it will be, though. You'll be tangled up with the Alliance, and I'll most certainly be on the run. Not to mention that the Reapers will still be returning."

"Miranda, neither of us has ever led a normal life. Hell, I'm a Spectre, and once this is all over, they'll be putting me to work." Then a thought came to him. "You know, I'd be more than willing to put your name forward to the Spectres; you're more than qualified. Definitely more qualified than I was."

"I doubt that, but thank you," she laughed. "Besides, I don't know that I want to work for the Council. I understand your position, but do I really want to get tied up with a group who denies the Reapers, even after you saved them from one?"

"Yeah, they are a pain in the ass at times. Useful though; I can get a lot of equipment that I normally wouldn't have access to." Then he got back to the original topic. "Miranda, we'll figure it out. We'll work it out. No matter what, no matter how crazy things get, I'll be with you. And if we're separated, I'll be waiting for you, looking for you. You have my word on that."

"And I'll do the same, Shepard. I promise."

He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. They two fell back on the bed, kissing and caressing each other. They rolled over, and he ended up on top of her. She looked up at him longingly. He was about to undress her when his omni-tool communicator sounded.

"Hey Commander, good news," came Joker's voice.

"Not now, not now," Miranda pouted, looking like she was about to cry.

"Joker, can this wait?"

"Not really," replied the helmsman. "Looks like the Reaper IFF is finally hooked up and ready to go."

"That is not entirely accurate, Mister Moreau," came Edi's voice. Shepard cut them off.

"I'll be up shortly," he said. "You can tell me about it then. Shepard out." He turned off his omni-tool, and looked back at Miranda.

"Duty calls, Commander," she said, sitting up. "Don't worry," she added coyly, "The next time things are quiet, I'll be by. Promise." She leaned in and kissed him very passionately, then sat back quickly, smiling. "Go to them, Shepard. It's time we started putting this together. The sooner we're done with the Collectors, the sooner we can start planning that future we just discussed."

"Damn omni-tool," he cursed. "Alright, Miranda, I'll see you soon." He kissed her again, and said, "I love you."

"Love you too, Shepard."

Shepard stepped into the lift, and before he selected his floor, Kelly Chambers messaged him, directing him to meet with Legion first. In checking in with Legion, he found that Legion had vital information, an opportunity that Shepard could not pass up. Legion had the location of the Geth Heretics' (Geth who followed the Reapers) base of operations. It was from this base that all of the Geth attacks had been launched, including Eden Prime. If they could take out this base, they could seriously hamper the Reaper's efforts; or at least that was the hope.

He summoned Miranda and Jacob to the debriefing room, and they unanimously agreed with him on this, and the rest of the team was always enthused about the idea of blowing up massive amounts of Geth. Thus, the decision was made to go. When Shepard came out to chart the course, Joker piped in once again.

"Like I said earlier, Commander, the Reaper IFF is hooked up and ready to go."

"Again, that is not entirely accurate, Mister Moreau," countered Edi. "The device is powered, but it is causing some unusual instability in other systems. I recommend a more thorough analysis before we attempt to use it."

"We can't put our mission on hold forever," Shepard replied. "How long will this take?"

"A full scan?" asked Joker. "Who knows with this thing. Maybe you'd better take the shuttle for this mission. I'll make sure we're up and running when you get back. Good hunting, Commander."

They boarded the shuttle together; Shepard, Miranda, Jacob, and the entire team. She had to admit that seeing them all assembled was impressive. It was a multi-species force, and one that Miranda herself had grown quite proud of. Even Jack and Grunt had come to impress her as they had worked together. And speaking of Jack, there was something that had to be said. As Jack walked past her, Miranda caught her arm.

"What the fuck? You touch me again, bi … "

"I'm sorry, Jack," Miranda said.

"Not as sorry as you're gonna …" But Miranda cut her off.

"No, I meant about earlier," Miranda clarified. "I was wrong, you were right. Cerberus' actions with you … what they did to you, it was wrong. I did some of my own digging, and that cell was not so rogue as I was led to believe. A lot of things weren't as I was led to believe. I thought you should know that."

Jack shifted back and forth, unsure of what to say. She looked like she wanted to fight, but the wind had just been taken out of her sails. She clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and Miranda braced for the biotic onslaught, but it never came. Instead, Jack unclenched her fists and relaxed a little, finally turning to her.

"I still don't like you," Jack emphasized. "You're a goddam spoiled little rich kid, and you ignore what you don't wanna see, no matter how much you're told. Until it bites you in the ass, that is. But … I know it took a lot for you to say that, so thanks."

"I don't like you either, Jack," replied Miranda. "But I thought you should know that." She extended her hand and said, "So, peace?"

"Yeah, peace," said Jack, smiling slightly, and shaking her hand. "Maybe you're alright after all."

The mission went well, and they actually found that they had an option of, rather than destroying the station, sending out a signal that would rewrite the Heretic Geth, undoing the Reaper influenced. Miranda and Jacob both agreed that this was a far more thorough solution than simply dealing with those Geth aboard the station through destroying it.

With that done, they proceeded back to the Normandy, still riding high when the message came in from Edi: The Reaper IFF had a hidden trap that had broadcast the Normandy's location to the Collectors. The crew had been abducted, and only through Joker unshackling Edi had they been able to save the ship. Shepard was needed back as soon as possible.

"Everyone?" Miranda exclaimed more than asked as she stormed into the room, "You lost everyone and damn near lost the ship too?"

"I know, alright? I was here," groaned Joker.

"It's not his fault Miranda," Jacob said in Joker's defense. "None of us caught it."

"Mister Taylor is correct," added Edi. "The harmful data in the Collector drive was even more sophisticated than the black box Reaper viruses I was given."

"I heard it was a rough ride," Shepard said to Joker, more concerned about Joker's well-being than with blaming him. "How are you holding up?"

Joker looked off into the distance, saying, "There's a lot of empty chairs in here."

"We did everything we could, Jeff," said Edi.

Shepard noticed that Edi was now addressing Joker by his first name. This was a new level of familiarity. More importantly, however, Edi had indeed saved the ship.

"Yeah, thanks mom," replied Joker somberly.

"Is the ship clean?" Shepard asked. "We can't risk this happening again."

"Edi and I purged the systems," Joker said, now looking at Shepard. "The Reaper IFF is online; we can go through the Omega 4 Relay whenever you want, Commander."

"Don't even get me started about unshackling a damned AI," scolded Miranda tersely, standing with her arms crossed, a very unhappy expression on her face.

"What could I do against Collectors, break my arm at them?" asked Joker in frustration. "Edi cleared the ship. She's alright." Joker finally stood, ready to return to the cockpit.

"I assure you," added Edi, "I am still bound by protocols in my programming. Even if I were not, you are my crew."

"Edi's had plenty of opportunity to kill us," observed Shepard. "We need all the help we can get."

"Looks like we have everything we need to rescue the crew," said Jacob hopefully.

"We've done everything we can," agreed Miranda. "It's time to take the fight to the Collectors."

"I'll give the order soon," Shepard confirmed. "Get to your stations and prepare for general quarters."

"Great, here we go again," groaned Joker. "Hit the map whenever you're ready, Commander." He saluted and headed to the cockpit.


	15. Chapter 15: Love and Vengeance

**Chapter 15: Love and Vengeance**

Shepard stood at the galaxy map, looking out at the empty CIC. He felt the anger and rage building inside of him. These Collectors had destroyed the old Normandy, killing twenty of her crew, twenty one if he included himself. They had been abducting human colonists, and had tried many times on this mission to kill him personally. This was the last straw. He took that anger and rage and held onto it, focusing it, channeling it into a finely honed weapon, a weapon that he would unleash on the Collectors when they went through the Omega 4 Relay, taking the fight to the Collector's home turf. Sensing him standing at the Galaxy map, Edi addressed him.

"Please confirm a destination, Shepard. The Reaper IFF is online, but there is a chance that the Normandy may not survive the Omega 4 Relay. Once we are enroute, we are committed."

"The Collectors are about to find out what happens when you piss me off," he growled.

"You got it, Commander," said Joker. "Plotting a course for the Omega 4 Relay, ETA about two hours."

He turned and walked back down from the galaxy map, calling the lift to take him to his cabin. As the doors opened, Miranda was exiting. They almost bumped into each other.

"Oh," Miranda gasped. "Pardon me, Commander." Then she embraced him and stood up on her tip toes to give him a deep, passionate kiss. Then she whispered, "I've cleared the engine room. Be there in five minutes."

"Should have known you wouldn't settle for the captain's quarters," he mused.

"I settle for nothing but the best," she said, seductively turning and walking back into the lift, her objective clearly met. Just before the doors closed, she turned, smiled, and then winked at him.

_Finally_, he thought. _Finally, we'll be together with no interruptions_. He had never loved any woman more than Miranda, not even Ashley. The anticipation of this moment had been building in him for weeks, but now, it was almost unbearable. Waiting for the lift to return, and then taking it to engineering took all of five minutes. It was the longest five minutes of his life.

He found Miranda standing in front of the drive core, her back to him, and the illumination of the core making her shapely silhouette really stand out. He admired her from this vantage for a few moments before he could take it no more and went to her. He quietly walked up behind her and firmly planted his right hand on her buttock, eliciting a gasp from the beautiful woman. She turned her head to see him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and began kissing her. She turned around, still kissing him, and he reached under her and hoisted her up onto the railing and spread her legs apart, pulling her close and lifting her to carry her off, their kissing unceasing.

When they got to the door, rather than opening, it remained closed, Miranda's back pressed against it, Shepard taking advantage of her low neckline and kissing her chest, causing her to moan with pleasure. Then she gently leaned in, the offsetting of her weight in his arms caused him to tip backward. He went with it, and gently lowered to the floor. Her feet came to the ground as he rolled back, and she came down atop him. Looking down at him with supreme satisfaction, she seductively unzipped her uniform and slid it back, off of her shoulders, revealing her ample bosom constrained by a black lace bra. Shepard sat up, kissing her breasts as he undid the fasteners of the undergarment, Miranda moaning and gasping with pleasure. He could see that her anticipation had built up as much as his own, and finally, they would both have their release.

There in the engine room, they made love without interruption. It was beautiful. Shepard had never felt so loved by a woman, and he knew that from this point on, his heart belonged to her, for better or for worse. For the next hour, nothing else, no one else in the galaxy existed except the two of them, time seeming to stand still as they loved each other. He knew as he held her in his arms, as he became one with her, that he could never let this woman go. The Collectors would go down, and they would live – he would make sure of that. There was a life, a beautiful future waiting for him with Miranda Lawson, and he would not give that up for anything in the galaxy.

Miranda lay in Shepard's arms in his bed. After their lovemaking, he had scooped her up and carried her to his cabin, laying her down and then joining her, holding her. She loved the closeness. Emotionally, they were inextricably connected now, Miranda bound to the dashing commander, and he to Miranda. She drifted off at some point, safe in his arms. He was like a safe harbor from a stormy sea, but he was also much more than that. Niket had been 'safe,' but in all the wrong ways. Shepard was not only safe, but he was also a partner with whom she could take the most daring of risks.

At some point, Shepard stirred and sat up. He looked down at her, a bittersweet smile on his face. She knew how he felt; their time together had been glorious, but it was overshadowed by the loss of the crew and the enormity of the mission before them. Miranda had not allowed herself to get close to anyone since leaving home; Niket was the last one that she had let in, but she was fond of some of the crew. Hawthorne and Goldstein; who always greeted her and made small talk, Kelly Chambers; who was ever encouraging. She thought the yeoman's obvious crush on the commander was rather cute. Then there was Rupert Gardner; the mess sergeant who always had a cheerful word and a hearty meal. And Doctor Chakwas, who while not Cerberus, had become something of a friend. Miranda had a fairly extensive medical background, and Karin Chakwas was one of the few people aboard with whom she could have in depth discussions on the topic. She also found the older woman to be admirably skilled. The fact that Karin was like an aunt to the man she loved, and had flown with that man on his mission to track Saren and finally to stop Sovereign and the Geth was not lost on her.

"Don't worry, Shepard," she said, reaching up to touch his cheek. "We'll get them back."

He leaned down and kissed her deeply, enfolding her in his powerful arms once again. She reveled in his embrace, and at the same time, felt a swell of professional pride; she had rebuilt Shepard practically from the ground up, and the results had been far more than satisfactory. _And consummately satisfying as well_, she thought, a blush spreading across her face. Shepard kissed her and propped himself up on his left elbow.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, a contented look on his face. She was probably one of two people who could sense the well hidden anxiousness he was feeling about the crew, trying to infringe on that contentedness.

"You," she replied. She smiled, and then looked up at the sky window in his cabin, watching the stars go by above. It was very serene; she wished she could stay here with him forever. "I was also thinking about the crew," she added, her own anxiousness now visible. "Shepard, some of them … some were becoming like friends to me. I've had some 'friends' since joining Cerberus; not close, mind you, but friendly acquaintances. I care about them, Shepard. I lost some on Project Overlord, and some of them are waiting for us to rescue them somewhere beyond the Omega 4 Relay."

He smiled, looking down at her, an expression of pure love in his eyes. It was the first time in her life that anyone had ever looked at her that way. She had been with men before, women too, and had enjoyed brief affairs with them. Some were part of her cover, others were just to ease the tension or blow off steam. But this was different. _He truly loves me_, she thought. _And I truly love him_.

"As you say, Miranda," he assured her, "we'll get them back." Then his eyes narrowed and his expression took on the strength of steel. "I owe them for taking my crew. I owe them for destroying the old Normandy and killing twenty of her crew. And I owe them for every human life they've taken since this all began. And once we hit that relay, it'll be payback time. And I'll make damn sure they never do anything like this again. Ever."

The intensity in his voice not only reassured her, it actually served to arouse her. She knew many people who would have become fearful or nervous at hearing speak as he did, but Miranda was a kindred spirit. She too had the same fire and passion. She hid it well; most thought of her as cold and unfeeling. But that was all a mask; she let nobody ever see the real Miranda Lawson. Nobody, that is, except Commander John Shepard. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down, kissing him.

"C'mon, Commander," she purred. "We have time. Let's make every second count."

He responded by kissing her passionately, and rolling on top of her, giving her what he knew she wanted. They made love again and lay entwined in each other's arms until Joker's voice came over the intercom.

"Commander, we're about to hit the Omega 4 Relay. You'd better get down here."

"On my way, Joker," he said, sitting up.

Miranda sat up with him, the two scanning the room for their clothes. They freshened themselves up and then got dressed together, stealing as many moments of affection as they could in the process. Finally dressed, they checked each other's uniforms and gave each other the thumbs up.

"Thank you, Miranda," he said, leaning down and kissing her. "I love you."

"I love you too, Shepard," she replied. "And thank you. For everything."

Then he took her hand and they boarded the lift together.

Shepard and Miranda walked to the cockpit hand in hand. Just before entering, she stopped him, then stood in front of him. He began to lean down to kiss her, but she held up a hand. Smiling, she placed her finger on his lips.

"This is your mission," she said. "I believe in you, Shepard. I believe that you really can do the impossible, and not only lead us to victory, but also bring us home. I willingly and gladly place my life and my heart in your hands." Then, she stood up on tiptoes and kissed him.

"Mine is in yours, Miranda," he replied, kissing her in return. "We'll get this done together. And then maybe we can start building that life together we've been talking about."

"Now wouldn't that be nice. No matter what happens, John Shepard, I love you," she declared. "Now do what you were born to do; rescue our crew, bring these bastards down, and save the galaxy!"

He nodded, and then kissed her deeply in response. Then he turned and strode into the cockpit, Miranda at his side. He knew how hard it was for her to place her life into his hands, to give up control and command. All her life, she had fought to be independent, and in charge of her own destiny. Now, her life literally was in his hands; his, and the hands of Joker. He would not let her down.

"Approaching Omega 4 Relay," announced Joker as Shepard entered. "Everyone stand by."

"Let's make it happen," Shepard replied, anxious to get the mission underway.

The Omega 4 Relay loomed large in the Normandy's windows. Massive, it somehow seemed even larger than the regular relays. It glowed with an angry orange fire instead of the cool blue of other relays. It had an air of foreboding, almost as though they were approaching the very gate to Hell itself. _Perhaps it was, in a way_, he thought. The hellish glow seemed to brighten as the Normandy approached, and Shepard heard Miranda gulp from behind him at the sight.

"Reaper IFF activated," said Edi's synthesized voice, as the ship sped faster towards the angry portal. "Signal acknowledged."

The ship began to vibrate and rumble in a way Shepard had never heard it before.

"Commander," came Jacob's voice from engineering over the com, "The drive core just lit up like a Christmas tree!"

"Drive core electrical charge at critical levels," declared Edi.

"Rerouting!" exclaimed Joker, frantically working the ship's controls.

They hit the relay and were catapulted out the other side faster than Shepard ever had been on any trip through the relay system. Miranda held his hand tightly through it all. And then Edi announced,

"Brace for deceleration."

"Shit!" exclaimed Joker, as the wreckage of a thousand ships was surrounding them at the other end. He pulled up sharply to avoid impact, only to find himself on a collision course with another ship, which he pulled right to avoid. After several near misses, they came into the clear, and the helmsman breathed a sigh of relief. "Too close!"

As the Normandy cruised through this graveyard of space ships, they realized that the space was illuminated. The ships were all dead, no signs of life.

"These must be all the ships that tried to make it through the Omega 4 Relay," Joker speculated. "Some look … ancient!"

Shepard and Miranda looked wordlessly at the ships of those who had tried and failed to make it through before them. Countless lives had been lost in the many attempts over possibly thousands of years.

"I have detected an energy signature near the edge of the accretion disc," announced Edi, interrupting his thoughts.

Looking ahead as far as the eye could see, the graveyard of ships stretched out. But at the edge of the accretion disc, just as Edi had said, there was a massive structure, visible to the naked eye. It reminded Shepard of a massive version of a Collector ship, over a hundred times larger.

"It has to be the Collector Base," Shepard declared. "Take us in for a closer look. Nice and easy."

Joker did as Shepard asked, setting course for their target. Miranda gripped Shepard's hand tightly as they continued. Her face looked stoic, but he could feel her trembling. She was scared, but only he would have known it. And who could blame her? This was the end of the line; their final destination. But unlike the crews of these dead ships, Shepard had a plan. And he was determined that it would succeed.

It did not take them long to pick up a few tails, however, as automated drones began swarming them. Joker did his best to shake them in the debris field, but one actually forced its way into the Normandy's cargo bay. Shepard would have to leave Miranda's side, and lead a team to deal with it. He, Garrus, and Grunt took care of it. The fight took seemingly forever, chasing it out, only to have it come right back in, but finally, a well-placed shot from Shepard's widow rifle did it in. He returned to the cockpit as soon as he was done, eager to be back at Miranda's side.

"There it is," Miranda said, almost fearfully. "The Collector Base."

Shepard now stood beside her, his confidence buoying her by his mere presence.

"See if you can find a place to land without drawing attention," Shepard said to Joker, not a trace of fear in his voice. After the harrowing dogfight through the debris field, Miranda was very glad of the upgrades they had done to the ship; Normandy came through without any major damage, and no injuries to any on board. She quite frankly surprised, but very pleasantly so; she had fully expected the ship to have taken major damage.

"Too late," replied the helmsman. "Looks like they're sending out an old friend to greet us!"

Miranda gasped as they saw the Collector ship come forth from its berth in the Collector base. Though it was much smaller than the base, it was still a good hundred times the size of the Normandy. And it had destroyed the original Normandy. But kinetic barriers, shields, and armor plating were not the only thing that Shepard had upgraded.

"Time to show them we give as good as we get," he growled. "Time to show them our new teeth!"

"Right," said Joker enthusiastically.

Bringing the Normandy in, Joker skillfully averted the Collector ship's powerful guns. Watching Joker fly with Shepard there in the cockpit, it was the first time she had truly noticed the synergy of the two men. It was as though Joker could read Shepard's intentions and translate them into action. And unlike any captain Miranda had seen, Shepard conducted the battle as though he were a general presiding over the entire theatre. When the moment was right, Shepard growled,

"Fire the main gun!"

Joker did as Shepard bid, and Miranda was momentarily blinded by the flash from the powerful Thanix canons that Shepard and Garrus had fitted to the Normandy. Joker's aim was true, and the shot went straight down the throat of the Collector ship's main gun, damaging it severely.

"Get in close and finish 'em off," ordered the Commander.

"Everyone hold on," exclaimed Joker, a smile on his face. "Gonna be a wild ride!"

These two were actually enjoying themselves, Miranda realized. Amazing, she thought. Joker did as Shepard ordered, and got in close, saying,

"Give 'em hell, girl," as he punched the firing button, unleashing another blast from the Thanix, destroying the Collector ship utterly.

"Look out," shouted Miranda, as the Normandy was caught in the blast. Joker skillfully rode it out, but the systems were overloaded, and the Normandy was forced to crash land on the exterior of the Collector Base. The impact tossed them all about, and Miranda felt like she had just punched by a Krogan several times. She had a metallic taste in her mouth, and her head throbbed. Shepard's hand found hers and she felt him help her to her feet. She leaned on him for a few moments to steady herself, then stood on her own. Nothing was broken. He looked at her with concern, but she smiled and kissed him.

"I'm alright," she assured him.

"Joker, you alright?" he then asked the helmsman.

"Ungh!" responded Joker. "I think I broke rib." He began to sit up, then said, "Or all of them."

"Multiple core systems overloaded during the crash," Edi announced. "Restoring operation will take time."

Shepard could never have anticipated this, she realized. They were never going home.

"We all knew this was likely a one way trip," she lamented, pushing aside her despair; they had a mission to complete, and live or die, they would complete it. At least she had experienced the love of her life before she died. But the resolute commander was not having it.

"We're here to take down the Collectors," he affirmed, "but I plan to live to tell about it."

"Glad you're in charge of the mission," said a relieved Joker.

"How long until the Collectors find this landing zone?" Shepard asked.

"I do not detect an internal security network," announced Edi. "It is possible the Collectors never expected anyone to reach the base."

"If we're lucky," added Joker, "their external sensors were hit like we were. They might not know we're alive."

"Edi will provide us with schematics based on any scans she can make now that we're here," announced Shepard. Miranda could see the plan coming together as he spoke. She did not know what it was, but she knew the look he had when the plan came together. "Once we figure out how we're going to destroy the station, and we will figure it out, we won't have much time. So I want us moving by the time we're done. So Edi, get to work on those scans immediately; I want that data in ten minutes, no less. Then I want the two of you to get this ship running. We'll need to evac our crew, and any colonists who are still alive. And we'll need to hit that relay, or be damn close to it before the station blows and sends those bastards straight to hell! Miranda, tell the team to suit up; I want everyone in the debriefing room in fifteen. Dismissed!"

"Yes, Sir!" Miranda exclaimed, a smile on her face once again. She could not help herself; this was what she loved about him; he never gave up, he never surrendered. He always did the right thing, no matter what. And he had made it plain that "the right thing" was to get their crew, get the team out, go home, and start a life with her. _We can do this_, she thought. _We really can do this, and live to tell about it!_

Miranda put on her body armor and selected her Phalanx pistol and Shuriken submachine gun. They were her favorites, her old standbys. She had tried the Locust, the tempest, and other submachinegun models, all of which fired more bullets and did more damage, but none were as accurate as her Shuruken, and they all wasted bullets needlessly. This mission was going to be deep in enemy territory, deeper than any mission had ever been; she wanted reliability and accuracy. And her Phalanx? There was never any question about that; the best combination of accuracy and punch. Shepard liked the Carnifex; a massive hand cannon, and he was deadly accurate with it. But Miranda did not have the strength to deal with the recoil of that gun. The Phalanx, however, was nearly as strong, and had less than half the recoil. Plus it held more shots and had the laser sights. With a final diagnostic check of her hardsuit computer and shields, she took the lift to the debriefing room. She was surprised to see Shepard waiting for her when the doors opened.

"Shepard?" She felt herself blush slightly. He stood in his full heavy armor, holding his helmet in his left arm. He was the picture of confidence and power.

"I saw you had called the lift, so I just rode down to meet you," he explained. "This'll be our last bit of time alone until this is all over, so I wanted to do this." As the doors closed, he enfolded her in his arms and kissed her passionately. "I love you, Miranda Lawson. We'll get through this, and then we'll get home and start looking at honeymoon destinations."

"You mean …"

"Yes," he said. "I want to spend my life with you, Miranda; Reaper invasions, and all."

"Yes," she said, craning her neck and stretching on her tip toes, and kissing him. "Yes, yes, yes, Shepard, a million times, yes!"

"Miranda, you just made me the happiest man in the galaxy!"


	16. Chapter 16: Suicide Mission

**Chapter 16: Suicide Mission**

Miranda could feel the anticipation as they entered the debriefing room, the entire team assembled and going over their weapons, making any final checks. Shepard had gone to the cockpit to check in with Joker one last time, so Miranda joined the others in making final checks. There was an energy in the room, a building tension; everyone knew the score. With the Normandy badly damaged and deep in hostile territory, they knew that this was probably the end. Miranda, however, refused to believe that any longer. She had a future to live for. They were all waiting on Shepard.

Suddenly, Jacob stood and saluted. Miranda felt the tension shift to excitement as the Commander entered and returned Jacob's salute, a determined look in his eye, and a sneer on his face. Shepard then shook Jacob's hand, giving him a friendly slap on the back. Everyone put their weapons down and a hush fell over the room. Shepard's words were appropriate, thought she knew that he was very interested in whether or not they made it home.

"This isn't how we planned this mission, but this is where we're at," the Commander announced. "We can't worry about whether the Normandy can get us home. We came to stop the Collectors, and that means coming up with a plan to take out this station. Edi, bring up your scan."

Miranda watched as Edi dutifully brought up her read of the station, and it was surprisingly detailed.

"You should be able to overload their critical systems if you get to the main control room here," Edi's voice announced.

"That means going through the heart of the station," observed Jacob, confirming her own assessment. "Right past this massive energy signature."

"That's the central chamber," Shepard confirmed. "If our crew or any of the colonists are still alive, the Collectors are probably holding them in there."

"Looks like there are two main routes," Jacob noted. "Might be a good idea to spit up to keep the Collectors off balance, then regroup at the central chamber."

"No good," Miranda countered. "Both routes are blocked. See those doors? The only way past is to get someone to open them from the other side."

"A few well-placed explosives should clear a path," said Shepard, but Edi put a damper on the notion.

"There is insufficient ordinance on board to create an explosion capable of damaging the interior walls."

Miranda expected him to be frustrated, but Shepard never missed a beat.

"If we can't blast our way through," he said, "then we'll use stealth. Someone could sneak through this ventilation shaft here."

"Practically a suicide mission," declared Jacob. "I volunteer."

"I appreciate the thought," said Miranda, shaking her head, "but you couldn't shut down the security systems in time." She then looked at Shepard. "We need to send a tech expert."

"It's your call, Commander," said Jacob. "Who do we send into the shaft."

Shepard looked down for a moment, seeming to collect his thoughts. Miranda suspected that he already knew who he was going to send. He looked up and directed his gaze to Legion.

"Legion, you can hack anything," he said. "And you'll have a better chance of surviving the ventilation shaft."

"Acknowledged, Shepard Commander," replied the Geth.

"The rest of us will break into two teams and fight down each passage," Shepard continued. "That should draw the Collectors' attention away from what you're doing, Legion."

"I'll lead the second fire-team, Shepard," Miranda volunteered. "We'll meet up with you on the other side of the doors."

"Not so fast, cheerleader," Jack interjected. "Nobody wants to take orders from you."

"This isn't a popularity contest," Miranda scolded. "Lives are at stake. Shepard – you need someone who can command loyalty through experience."

"Miranda's right," Shepard said. "She should lead the second team."

"Just 'cause …" Jack began, but Shepard put his hand up to silence her.

"Don't even go there, Jack," he said evenly. "You've seen me in action long enough to know that I don't make command decisions based on personal relationships. Besides, even if you hadn't seen me first hand, my reputation should speak for itself. Miranda knows what she's doing. I know exactly who I want with whom, and why."

Jack looked perturbed, but she held her tongue; there was no gainsaying Commander Shepard.

"Thank you Shepard," Miranda said, feeling very empowered by his support of her offer to lead the team. "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't, Miranda," he replied with a smile. Then he looked at Jack and said, "And don't worry, Jack; you won't have to take any orders from Miranda. You'll be with me, so I expect you to unleash your full ferocity on the Collectors. No holding back."

Jack smiled wickedly at this. "No worries there, Commander."

"Good," he said, now shifting his focus to the team as a whole. With the plan in place, he had one last thing to do; get their heads in the game.

"Once we're in, they're going to throw everything they have at us. If we're weak, if we're slow, if we hesitate, we'll die." Then his eyes narrowed and his gaze became as hard and unwavering as steel. Shepard's rage was focused, palpable, and it fed the rage and anger of everyone in the room. It burned away the fear, and the doubt. He pounded the table saying, "The Collectors attacked our ship. They took our crew, our friends. They think we're helpless. They're wrong. They started a war, but we're not here to finish it. We're here to make them regret – to show them, and everyone else what happens when you go too far. No more running. No more waiting." He pointed at them, and growled, "Let's hit them where they live!"

As soon as they were out of the ship, each team found their respective entrance. Shepard had tasked Joker and Edi with getting that ship up and running A.S.A.P., and he expected no less than 500% effort from them on it. Mirand had said yes. She said YES! There was no way he was dying here, not with a life with Miranda ahead of him. The Collectors, the Reapers, and anything that stood in their way would be put down. Shepard refused to be denied, and he refused to see Miranda denied. She deserved a life of happiness, and he was determined to give her that life, no matter what.

The fighting ramped up to a level of intensity beyond anything he'd dealt with since the Blitz almost as soon as they were in. Jack, true to her word, unleased her full fury, reveling in the destruction of their enemies. Shepard had taken Jack and Zaeed, and the trio proved a fine match in a ground fight. Jack, for her part, had never had the experience of having soldiers at her back, and Shepard could tell that she was enjoying it. Zaeed was throwing incendiary grenades and firing incendiary ammo from his Vindicator riffle, shouting obscenities at their foes all the while, everything around him becoming a raging inferno.

As for himself, Shepard had equipped his hardsuit for extra ammunition packs and extra heavy ammunition, and brought his most powerful weapons. He waded into battle, every bit the juggernaut of destruction that Miranda had become fond of calling him, unleashing a withering field of fire, laced with concussive blasts, and like Zaeed, throwing incendiary grenades. He closed with his foes often, crushing them with powerful blows, venting all of his rage, all of his frustrations with Cerberus, the Council, the Alliance, and Ashley on the hapless Collectors. Harbinger reared his head frequently as they pressed further and further into the superstructure, but Shepard was more than ready for the avatars of the obnoxious Reaper. The Armor piercing rounds of his Mattock rifle punched through the creature's plating, taking it out faster than it could respond. On many occasions, he braved Harbinger's attacks, closing with the fiend's avatars and taking them out in hand to hand.

"Shepard," he heard Jack shout with admiration, "You're insane!" Then he heard Zaeed shout, "Gut the bastards!" Shepard just smiled. _Payback is hell_, he thought. But all through it, he kept hearing Harbinger's voice level taunts at them. "This hurts you Shepard. If I must, I will destroy you," and other one line taunts. It made him wonder if Harbinger had tuned into the action vids to try to figure out how to intimidate its human foes. He shook his head as spun, taking out one of the avatars with an elbow strike to its head, snapping its neck. No amount of trash talk was going to save the Collectors. It was time to put the Protheans in the grave once and for all.

Miranda and her much larger team made a progressive press into the base. With Thane and Garrus, they had two of the finest snipers in existence, allowing Miranda to use them as rooks. The indefatigable Grunt led the charge, while she directed Kasumi ahead, using her shadow strike ability to sew confusion and chaos behind the enemy lines as she, Jacob, and Samara protected Mordin and Tali with powerful biotic assaults, allowing the Salarian and Quarian tech experts to utilize their abilities to the fullest. Samara was amazing; she led the charge with abandon, and when they finally clashed, Samara danced between her foes, her every attack producing deadly results. She was by far the most powerful biotic Miranda had ever seen, even more so than Jack, and her combat experience was measured in centuries. As they pressed further and further into the base, Miranda thought that Shepard truly had assembled the greatest team the galaxy had ever seen.

Harbinger made sure to taunt them with avatars along the way, and it was not long before Scions were making focused artillery attacks on Garrus and Thane. But with her own biotic power, she kept the snipers and tech experts safe, while warping barriers and armor and making biotic attacks of her own, lifting her foes high into the air and then bringing them down like bombs on their own comrades, splattering them all in the process. Between biotic attacks, she sprayed covering fire to aid Kasumi as she continued to decimate the enemy from within their own lines.

Mordin and Tali proved deadly as well, with Mordin's incineration attacks burning swaths of enemies, and Tali using her tech to drain the shields and barriers of the enemy, allowing gunfire to tear them apart. Garrus and Thane kept taking heads off of the enemy with their powerful sniper rifles every time Tali lowered their barriers, and frequently, even when she did not. Garrus seemed to take perverse pleasure in blowing apart the heads of Harbinger's avatars midsentence, calling out trash talk of his own.

Grunt, their own juggernaut of destruction, charged deep paths into the enemy lines opening the way for her team, bellowing, "I AM KROGAN," and "FEEL THE BLOOD RAGE!" all the while. Foes went down like bowling pins before the massive Krogan purebred. And he was still a juvenile! She could not imagine how formidable he would be when he finally reached adulthood.

The fighting was the most intense Miranda had ever experienced, but with this much larger team, she was able to really maximize her abilities, and was never in danger of losing consciousness as she had the first time they boarded a Collector vessel. But the long, punishing fights were draining on the biotic abilities of herself and Jacob, and she noticed that even Samara was making use of her weapons more now than she had at the outset. Not only that, the lengthy and frequent expenditure of biotic power had drained Miranda physically as well. Jacob probably suffered the same, but he was in tremendous physical condition and simply did as Samara had, and shifted to gunplay without missing a beat.

Miranda really hated ground assault, and she really wished Shepard were with her. She only hoped that he was okay; he only had two people with him, and his path was actually more of a deathtrap than the one she and her team had taken. Her radio crackled to life, and she heard Shepard's voice.

"Miranda, we're almost there. How're you holding up?"

"Shepard, thank God! I was worried. They're wearing us down, but we're holding. We're almost there too. How are you doing?"

"Kicking ass!"

_Figures_, she thought. While she and her team were at a point where they had to conserve energy and she was worried about the last part of the push, Shepard was enjoying himself. She could hear Jack and Zaeed shouting obscenities at the Collectors in the background, and the two were clearly pleased with their work.

"Just get through in one piece," she pled. "I love you, Shepard."

"I love you too, Miranda! See you on the flip side. Shepard out."

Shepard's trio made it to the door. Miranda had already made it through their last barrier, and now, his trio was pinned at their own. He had no problem killing Collectors; he would happily do so for a few more hours. But thermal clips were running low. He knew Miranda's team had an ammo crate with them, but that would not help them on this side of the door. He was really missing the days of weapons with the heat limiters and no clips; heavier, and you had to be careful not to overheat them, but they were much better for extended fighting like this.

Finally, the doors opened. Miranda came through, just as he knew she would. They hurried in, then laid down more fire as Tali tried desperately to get the doors closed behind them. Miranda directed Garrus, Jacob, and Grunt to join Shepard, Zaeed, and Jack in defending the door.

"Suppressing fire! Hold the door," Miranda ordered as she took her side with Shepard. The seven of them unloaded their weapons on the enemy, taking out fifty at least by the time Tali got the door closed. Amazingly, there were no casualties.

"Damn, that felt good," he exclaimed, finally able to relax and take a breath. "Great work Legion, Tali. I knew you wouldn't let me down."

Before they could answer, he heard Miranda's voice, a serious, and worried edge to her words.

"Shepard, you need to see this," was all she said, but her tone got his attention.

It did not take him long to see what she was pointing to. Now that he was not fighting at the door, he saw the horror of the room; the chamber was cavernous, containing hundreds … no, thousands of upright pods containing … people. A complex network of tubes connected to each pod and then was routed to another part of the base. They walked close to inspect them, and he recognized one of the victims; she wore a uniform that marked her as Horizon Colonial staff. Her name tag said "Lilith." Shepard remembered that obnoxious colonist, Delan, saying, "They got Lilith."

"The missing colonists," exclaimed Jacob, echoing Shepard's own conclusion. Then something began flooding into the tube, it was like thousands of miniature seekers. Lilith began moving, writhing in pain as the machines began liquefying her.

"Oh my God," Shepard exclaimed, "they're alive! Get them out!" He began striking the glass with the butt of his rifle, he broke through, but by the time he got the glass opened, she was too far gone to be saved, melting away before his eyes.

"The crew!" He heard Miranda's exclamation, turning to help those he could hopefully still save. The colonists were dead, Lilith being the last of them, but the crew was only beginning to be processed. He got to the first pod and began pounding at the edges this time, breaking the mechanism and opening the pod, releasing Mess Sergeant Gardner, then went to the next, each of his team doing the same. They worked feverishly and rapidly, with the powerful Grunt literally tearing the lids off with his bare hands. Shepard was so glad he had recruited the massive Krogan. Amazingly, they saved all of their captured crew, Doctor Chakwas being the last, falling into Shepard's arms.

"Doctor Chakwas," he exclaimed as he gently laid the Normandy's doctor on the floor, Miranda kneeling down to check on her. Miraculously, all of the crew began waking up, now freed from the Collectors' pods. Doctor Chakwas stirred, sitting up with help.

"Shepard? You came for us," she gasped.

"No one gets left behind," Shepard declared, helping her to her feet.

The doctor smiled weakly, relieved beyond measure at being saved by her old friend.

"You came," gasped Kelly. "Another second and … I don't even want to think about it!"

"The colonists were processed," the doctor explained, "Those swarms of little robots melted their bodies into gray liquid, then pumped it through these tubes."

"What … what are they doing with our genetic material?" asked Miranda as she contemplated the tubes. In one sentence, Miranda had changed Shepards's perception of what was happening. The Collectors weren't just melting their victims down and devouring them; the Collectors were doing something far more sinister. Shepard did not know what it was, but as bad as being devoured was, the Collectors were doing something worse.

"Whatever it is," Shepard said with finality, "it ends here."

"We've done well so far. Let's hope we can finish the job." Miranda's words echoed his own thoughts, though there was no 'let's hope' in Shepard's mind; they were here to rescue the crew and destroy this cursed base. The first part had been accomplished. Now for the second part.

"Joker," said Shepard, activating the com, "can you get a fix on our position."

"Roger that," came Joker's voice over the com. "All those tubes lead into the main control room right above you. The route is blocked by a security door, but there's another chamber that runs parallel to the one you're in."

"I cannot recommend that," came Edi's voice. "Thermal emissions suggest that the chamber is overrun with seeker swarms. Mordin's countermeasure cannot protect you against so many at once."

"What about biotics?" Shepard asked, looking directly at Miranda, Samara, Jack, and Jacob. "Someone could put up a biotic field to ward off the swarms."

"I could generate a field to protect a small team," said Samara.

"I could as well. In theory, any biotic could." Miranda's assessment meant that Shepard could choose between five biotics; Samara, Jack, Jacob, Grunt, and Miranda herself.

Miranda seemed to want desperately to be the one to shield Shepard in the chamber. He wondered if it was her love for him or her desperate need to prove herself. Or something else perhaps. Regardless, he had to choose one of them. Jacob and Grunt were far more useful as biotically enhanced soldiers, and he did not want to lose their combat prowess for this. That left Miranda, Jack, and Samara. One of them, however, was going to need to get the crew back to the ship, and only these three had the power to protect the crew as a whole all by themselves. Unfortunately, he could not spare more than one of the team to escort the crew back, so it had to be one of his powerful biotic squad mates. He would need Miranda's scientific expertise going further in, so that left Samara and Jack to escort the crew. Which meant that one of them or Miranda would have to bring the team through the chamber with him.

"Miranda and I will take a small team through the seeker swarms," Shepard declared. "The rest of you provide a diversion by going through the main passage. We'll open the security door from the other side and meet you there."

"What about us?" asked Doctor Chakwas. "We cannot make it back on our own and we're in no condition to fight."

"We've got enough systems up that the Normandy can drop in for a pick up a few clicks back from your current position," came Joker's voice over the intercom, an immense relief to Shepard, who thought the crew would have to be escorted back through the entire route which he had taken to get here.

"Samara," said Shepard gravely, "these people are my family, my friends. Their lives are precious. Bring them back, all of them back to the Normandy."

"You have my word, Shepard. They will be fine, I assure you." Her solemn words reassured him. He embraced her briefly.

"Thank you Samara," he said. "This means a great deal to me."

"Jack, I want you on the diversion team," Shepard ordered. "Don't hold back." Then he turned to Garrus, saying, "I want you in charge of the diversion team. Lead them like you led your team on Omega, Garrus. Treat these Collector vermin like they're nothing more than a pack of Eclipse mercs."

"I'll keep their defenses busy while you slip in the back. We'll take them out and meet you on the other side," Shepard heard the Turian declare in his duotone voice.

"We've all got our assignments," said Shepard. "Take a moment, fuel up, and let's move out!"

Miranda dug into her ration packs and ate two energy bars and downed an energy drink. Her powerful biotics had been capable of amazing displays of power, hurtling enemies aside, crushing mechs, and providing an extra layer of shielding during combat. But they had never been tested like this. The onslaught of the seeker swarms would be intense and unrelenting, and she would have to project and maintain a barrier at near maximum strength for longer than she ever had. This would not be rapid movement interspersed with periods of intense combat; this would be slow movement through a sustained assault interspersed with periods of intense combat. When Shepard had selected his fire team, he had told them that even with the distraction, the fighting would likely be the most intense they had experienced so far; Harbinger would know where they were, and there would only be three in the fight. Not only would they need to take down the enemy, but they would need to protect Miranda, which severely limited their mobility on the battlefield. Miranda's endurance would be tested to its absolute limit. Shepard's reassuring hand suddenly rested on her shoulder.

"Are you ready?" His calm voice soothed her, taking away the edge of her fear.

"Ready, Shepard. I promise, I won't let you down."

"I know, Miranda." His smile gave her confidence. She had not realized that she needed it until he gave her that boost. "And don't worry; I'll be keeping you safe while you're keeping us safe."

When he said it, the last of her fear fled her. Miranda had never liked relying on others; it was a sign of weakness to her. Also, they always let her down, every single one of them. Niket was the biggest let down of them all. But finally, she had someone to whom she could entrust her very life, not to mention her heart. She felt a blush suffuse her cheeks and turned away, closing her eyes, saying, "Shepard …"

She felt his finger lifted her chin gently and his lips meet her own and his arms encircle her. She surrendered to the passionate kiss for a moment that seemed to last forever until his lips pulled away, leaving her momentarily breathless. "I love you," was all he said before he let her go. Shepard and his chosen fire team, Mordin and Jacob, had already finished their own snacks and drinks. It was time.

"Move out!"

Shepard's normally rich baritone was ragged and rough from all of the shouting he had done in battling through the chamber with Jack and Zaeed. It was the only sign to her of the level of intensity he must have had to remain at to get through such harrowing ordeal. Miranda scolded herself for her doubts; she knew that she was not the only one who would be tested. She steeled herself for the onslaught of the seeker swarms as Shepard led them into adjacent chamber through what appeared to be a maintenance access. The access opened up into a foyer, where Miranda erected her barrier.

"Here goes," she said. Miranda concentrated with every fiber of her being, pushing her power outward, first merely away from her armor, and then further and further from her. First, Shepard was enveloped in the barrier. She felt his energy as her own energy washed over him. It was a warm, confidence, but more importantly, she could actually _feel_ his love for her. When they were done, she resolved to explore this with him during lovemaking. She pushed the barrier further, enveloping Mordin. She sensed a surprising amount of compassion from the Salarian scientist, and a calm confidence. Finally, her barrier enveloped Jacob. She felt the warmth of an old friend, and realized that like Shepard Jacob was someone who she could entrust her life to. A true friend. She smiled at the presence of the three soldiers under the protection of her barrier. Finally, she pushed it out several feet, creating a dome with a ten foot radius from her center point.

"I'm ready, Shepard," she finally said, confident that she was indeed ready. He reached toward her and gently held her outstretched hand. Then after kissing her gently, causing her to blush in spite of herself, he shouted,

"Move out!"

Upon hearing his order, she pressed forward with him from the foyer into the chamber.

The assault was almost instantaneous. Their coms were immediately rendered useless as the seeker swarms, thick like a London fog, blocked out any signal. Miranda felt as though a thousand wasps were stinging her through her barrier. The energy was foul, malevolent. She had never been one for the notion of seeing auras on others, but she realized that perhaps she could train herself to do just that. _Later_, she thought. She marshalled her concentration and created a repellant energy that pushed the seekers back slightly, taking the edge off of the pain they were causing her. Then she found her center and mentally blocked out the pain.

She heard Harbinger's voice, but she could not make out the words; her own concentration made everything around her sound like it was coming from underwater. Almost as soon as Harbinger stopped speaking, gunfire erupted. The sound of her teammates' shots sounded muffled, as did their shouts and calls. It was hard enough defending against the seekers, but as the bullets ripped through her barrier, she realized that she needed to find cover until the fight was over.

"Taking cover," she shouted, finding a column that resembled a joined stalactite joined to stalagmite. She could not make out what was happening, but after a few very intense minutes, the gunfire died down and she saw her friends relax.

"Ready to move out," she called out to Shepard.

"Move out," she heard him say, briefly feeling his hand touch her cheek.

She began moving forward, following Shepard. They had to move slowly, or the seeker swarms would not bounce off of her barrier. They slowly turned a corner, and up ahead she could see that the passaged opened up into a massive cavern. The path ended about twenty meters ahead, and turned to the right. Floating in across the cavern she could see one of those levitating platforms like they had encountered in the Collector ship. As soon as it docked with the ledge at the end of their path, she realized that two scions were there, firing heavy artillery at them, as a pack of husks and exploding abominations came charging at them. Shepard's Widow rifle was out and firing at the two scions as Jacob and Mordin kept the husks and abominations at bay. Shepard took two clean headshots, killing them both instantly, and then seamlessly switching to his assault rifle and taking out the remaining husks and abominations. Miranda was always amazed at the ease with which the soldier shifted between weapons. It was almost as though they were a very part of him.

When they got to the end and turned right, the entered into another tunnel like corridor and were met with one of Harbinger's avatars and host of Collectors. Miranda felt Shepard grab her, shielding her from one of Harbinger's attacks. She was thankful for his cover as she took cover herself behind a support column. She recharged her barrier and swigged an energy drink as the fighting raged around her. She realized that the bottle was empty; she had no more left until they regrouped with Garrus's team. The fighting lasted about five minutes, and then Shepard got them moving into the cavern.

They barely went another twenty meters when they were intercepted by a platoon of husks and abominations, supported by two more scions with heavy artillery. Worse yet, there was no real cover for her; just a wall about a meter high that partitioned half of the passageway, with a very slender support column on the right side. This time, Shepard, Mordin, and Jacob had to be her cover. She felt powerless as she watched them take withering fire from the scions while being mauled by the husks and abominations. She watched in horror as the abominations threw themselves at her friends, exploding on impact, and draining their shields so that the husks could get in and do their work. A few husks got through to Miranda, pummeling her, and biting at her, but one of her friends always got to them before they could really hurt her or disrupt her concentration.

Then she saw Jacob go down, then finally Mordin, leaving only Shepard to shield her from the onslaught. She did not know how he did it, but he seemed to be everywhere at once, using his concussive blast techniques to send several of the enemy flying back at one time. Finally, he took down the scions and she watched as he switched to his Scimitar shotgun and took the remaining husks and abominations out. With the enemy dead, he used medigel to get Mordin and Jacob back on their feet, and as soon as they were standing, Shepard had them moving.

Miranda's body ached all over, and her head throbbed. Her legs felt leaden as she trudged along. Husks and abominations were coming out of every hole, nook, and cranny of the place, and Shepard was taking them out as soon as their heads were visible. Finally, they turned to the left at the top of a steep incline, and Miranda began to falter.

"I … I can't keep this up ... much longer …" she gasped, breathing shallowly and raggedly. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get enough air. She realized that her barrier had shrunk, now extending out only about five feet from her. Shepard steadied her and pulled her arm over his shoulder, helping her along. She felt his lips brush her cheek, and heard him whisper,

"Just a little further, Miranda."

Indeed, they turned left and there was a ramp descending to the chamber containing the security doors that they had to open for the other team. The only problem was that there were security doors on this side as well. _We're dead_, she thought. But Shepard pressed forward, unperturbed. With the downward ramp, she was able to move more easily, allowing gravity to do some the work for her. Finally, they came to another one meter high barrier. Shepard helped her over, shouting,

"Move! Mordin, get that door open now!"

Jacob and Shepard carried Miranda the final steps while shooting at the Collectors, who were now coming out in force, as well as at concentrated seeker swarms; packed balls of the insect like machines that buffeted Miranda's barriers, sending waves of pain through her body. She was about to collapse, and she felt her barrier beginning to crumble. The seekers were now pressing in and swarming Shepard and Jacob. She could hear Shepard shout, "Mordin, the door! Now!" Shepard was holding his own, but Jacob was about to be literally carried off. Miranda would not let that happen.

Finding her last reserves, she unleashed the last of her power in an incendiary biotic pulse that blasted the swarms and Collectors to dust. She heard the door open and Mordin's voice shout, "We're in!"

Miranda collapsed in Shepard's arms, the last of her strength gone. She felt herself being carried inside and could hear Jacob and Shepard returning fire. Finally, she heard the door close. There was shouting and activity at the other side, but she had lost consciousness. She only knew that the swarms were gone before she passed out.


	17. Chapter 17: The Final Battle!

**Chapter 17: The Final Battle!**

It was almost a repeat of the earlier shoot out at the door, only this time, Shepard was the one letting people in. As soon as Mordin had the door open, Garrus got all of the team in. Then he took a shot to the gut. Shepard was concerned, but Garrus shrugged it off. It turned out to be a flesh wound, though it was bleeding a bit. Shepard was relieved as he saw Garrus simply apply medigel and then start checking his weapon. Shepard's next priority was Miranda. She had wiped herself out keeping the barrier up, and then spent the last of her strength on that massive pulse that saved Jacob. Without that final effort Jacob would have been lost. But now, Miranda lay on the ground, exhausted. She had also taken some minor injuries, which Shepard now attended with medigel. Medigel not only healed wounds, but it was also a stimulant, and Miranda soon stirred.

"Ugh … how … how long was I out?" Her voice was ragged, worn. She sounded like she had just awoken from a very long sleep after a night of heavy partying. He was sure she felt like that too, hangover and all.

"Drink this," he said, handing her an energy drink. She imbibed deeply, but not too quickly. Color slowly returned to her face, easing his worries. He handed her an energy bar, which she gladly took, hurriedly tearing it open and eating. He saw the focus come back to her eyes and the strength returning to her body. Then a look of alarm came over her face, and she began looking around the room frantically.

"It's alright," he assured her. "Everyone made it. You saved Jacob too."

"How long was I out?"

"Only a few seconds." He lied; she had been out for about ten minutes, but it had taken that long for him to get everyone inside and for them to regroup, so she had not missed anything. He smiled at her as the calm returned to her face, and he felt her squeeze his hand as she smiled back. It was a weak smile; she still had not fully recovered from the ordeal of maintaining the barrier. Shepard was duly impressed by her efforts, which was hard to do; his expectations of her abilities were appropriately high. He suspected Samara could have done the same, and may have had more in reserve, but he doubted any other biotic could have, at least none he could think of. Kaiden certainly had never been capable of such a sustained expenditure of biotic power.

"Help me up, Shepard." He looked at her a bit sternly as she ased; he really wanted her resting at least a little longer. Unfortunately, time was not a luxury they had, so he gently pulled her to her feet as he stood. Downing the last of her drink and energy bar, she stood confidently once more. Still holding his hand, she stood up on tip toes and kissed him. "Thanks."

He nodded, and then began taking stock of where they were. No enemies, and the position was defensible. He got on the com, and was please to find it working again.

"Joker, are you at the rendezvous point?"

"I'm here, Commander," replied Joker's voice. "Chakwas and the rest of the crew just showed up."

"Samara's group has arrived, Shepard," chimed in Edi's voice. "No casualties."

Shepard nodded, but before he could verbally respond, he was surprised to find Miranda already on it. It seemed that she wanted everyone to see that she was still in it.

"Excellent; now let's make it count. Edi, what's our next step?"

"There should be some nearby platforms that will take you to the main control console. From there, you can overload the system and destroy the base."

Now that was what Shepard wanted to hear; a solution to this whole thing, and an end to the mission. He was about to start planning when Joker chimed back in.

"Commander, you've got a problem. Hostiles massing just outside the door. Won't be long before they bust through."

That added another element of danger. He had hoped that he could just overload the base with the touch of a few buttons and the planting of the bomb, and then they could go home, but he knew that would have been too easy; nothing on this entire mission had gone according to plan, so why should things start now? Time to rally the troops. He walked to the platform and climbed atop it. Standing, he addressed his team.

"A rear guard could defend this position and keep us from getting overwhelmed." He was not surprised that Miranda again jumped in.

"Pick a team to go with you, Shepard. Everyone else can bunker down here and cover your back."

He noticed that as she spoke, just as when she had responded to Edi, she glanced at Jack, who had frequently challenged Miranda's authority since the biotic mercenary had been brought aboard. Shepard nodded and motioned for Miranda to join him on the platform, and then looked at Jacob. He had started this mission with the two of them at his side, and he would end it with the two of them at his side. Miranda beamed as he helped her atop the platform. Now, she looked fully energized and at full capacity. He recalled that she said that she healed rapidly, and he suspected that that was why. _What a team we make_, he mused silently.

"I'm ready, Commander." Miranda's voice had even regained its mellifluous tone, no longer worn and ragged.

"Me too," he heard Jacob's gruff voice declare resolutely.

"Anything to say before we do this?" Miranda's question anticipated his intent to make a final speech to his crew. Indeed, she knew well his ability to rouse his team; he had done it many times over the years, spurring small teams to get results normally only obtainable by much larger forces. And today, he needed his team to be the greatest heroes the galaxy had ever seen. Normally, he would give a rousing, moving speech, but today, it was different. He needed their sharpest edge.

"Words shouldn't matter," he began, catching Miranda off guard. "People have died. If losing our friends isn't enough to make you want payback, then what are we doing here?" He saw Garrus, Zaeed, and Jack all nodding in agreement. "The Collectors blindside their targets; hit and run," he continued. "As powerful as they are, they're cowards. They've never had to stand and fight the best of us. And that's you!" Grunt pounded his fist against the palm of his opposite hand, smiling maniacally at this, as the rest of them beamed with pride. "I don't know if they can feel fear, but we're damned sure going to give them the opportunity." He walked as he spoke, moving about on the platform as if it were a stage, and addressing his audience as a whole, occasionally focusing on individuals or clusters of individuals, and maintaining eye contact. "Hit 'em hard," he concluded. "One way or another, it ends here!"

"Well said! Now let's finish this." Miranda's voice was filled with admiration, and just a bit of astonishment. He knew that many of his speeches were a matter of public record, and until now, he had always tried to be a paragon of the Marine Corps when speaking publicly. But this was not a public speech; this was his team that was about to go into battle one last time against an implacable foe, with the fate of the galaxy hinging on the outcome of the battle. He wanted them primed for destruction.

With the speeches out of the way, he activated the platform. It shuddered and shook as it dislodged itself from its resting place and began floating down a seemingly endless tube, thirty meters in diameter, at least. The tubes that had been connected to the pods that all of those people, hundreds of colonists, and his crew, all were routed through this massive passageway.

Before he could contemplate it further, the passage opened into another vast chamber, as the platform reached its final stop looking out over a vast chasm with no visible end. He heard Jacob emit a humorless laugh, saying, "Don't look down."

"Yeah," said Shepard, "and don't look now, but we've got company!" A floating platform came from across the cavernous chamber, its occupants being Collectors, one of which was one of Harbinger's avatars, hurtling dark energy bolts at them. They dodged and returned fire as best they could on the small platform, until finally, it docked with their own with percussive force, knocking Miranda to the floor. No sooner had Shepard helped her up, then the Collectors were upon them. Seven in total, they fired their particle beams mercilessly as Harbinger's avatar taunted them and hurled dark energy bolts, one taking Jacob down, another ripping Shepard's shields away as he struggled to protect Miranda.

Turning, he gave Harbinger an appropriate response, emptying his Carnifex into the possessed creature's face, as Miranda brought her own pistol to bear, taking head shots on the others. Jacob had regrouped and was firing his shotgun from cover. Before long, all seven were dispatched. Shepard motioned for them to move forward to the platform where the dead Collectors lay, kicking the bodies over the edge. Another platform was incoming, so the three dug in behind the barricade that bisected the platform and fired from cover, Shepard bringing his Widow rifle to bear. Between Jacob and Miranda firing their laser sighted Phalanx pistols and Shepard's rifle, the eight enemies were all dead before the platform docked. This time, they were prepared for the impact, and remained steady, moving forward to the next platform.

As before, a third platform was incoming, and this time, two scions were supporting eight Collectors, launching heavy artillery at the trio even before docking, and one of the eight possessed by Harbinger, hurtling dark energy blasts at them. They took out as many as they could before the platform docked, Shepard actually taking out Harbinger's avatar and one of the Scions with his sniper rifle. He switched to his Mattock assault rifle, and as soon as the platform docked, he advanced, hopping the barricade and striking one of the Collectors sharply in the head with the butt of the heavy rifle, then firing a concussive blast at the one behind him, and shooting the last one in the face, causing its head to explode. A puss like ichor oozed from the wound. They kicked the bodies off of this platform as well, bracing for another platform. Harbinger did not disappoint, and the trio dealt with it in much the same fashion.

Shepard was very pleased at what a tight, coordinated unit the three of them had become since he had first awakened aboard the doomed Lazarus Station. It reminded him of Ashley and Kaiden two years ago, only … only better! These small teams of Collectors, even with support of Harbinger and the scions, were going down more and more easily. The final platform contained two more scions and ten Collectors, plus one possessed by Harbinger. This time, they were much more aggressive, forcing the trio to fight entirely from cover. When Shepard took out Harbinger's avatar, another was immediately possessed, the onslaught of dark energy continuing relentlessly. But after an intense five minutes of shooting, they had vanquished all enemies on the platform. This time, the platform had a master control. Shepard directed them onto the final platform and activated the controls, taking the platform through another narrower section of tubes and wires.

Finally, he could see the endpoint ahead.

"This is it," he said. "All the tubes lead to this spot. Edi, what can you tell us?"

"The tubes are feeding into some kind of superstructure," replied Edi's voice in their earpieces. "It is emitting both organic and nonorganic energy signatures. Given these readings, it must be massive." Shepard was certain that he heard a sense of dread in Edi's voice. She continued, the same sense of dread in her voice. "Shepard, if my calculations are correct, the superstructure is … a Reaper."

"Not just any Reaper," Shepard replied as the passage opened up into a massive chamber, and the superstructure became visible. But unlike the one Reaper he had seen, this was not kilometers long, though it was massive. A skeletal humanoid construct some hundred feet in height hung, its arms outstretched and its head down, off to one side. The position reminded him of a cross between Frankenstein and a crucifix. The torso ended just past its ribcage, its spinal column dangling in the air over a massive chasm. "A Human Reaper," Shepard exclaimed.

"Precisely," Edi confirmed in a hushed tone barely louder than a whisper.

Shepard definitely could hear it; emotion in the AI's voice. He had thought he had noticed it after the Collectors had abducted the crew, then again in some brief conversations, but now, it was plainly heard. The platform came to a jarring stop right in front of the massive construct. Shepard could feel its malevolence. The thing was not even awake, but it exuded terror and evil. This was the greatest calamity ever to befall the Human race, and the Alliance was completely and willfully ignorant of it. Edi broke his train of thought, continuing to assess the scene from the Normandy.

"It appears the Collectors have processed tens of thousands of humans. Significantly more will be required to complete the Reaper."

"What do the Collectors gain by turning humans into this … Reaper shell?" Shepard asked the question rhetorically, though he knew Edi would answer.

"They may be facilitating the Reaper equivalent of reproduction," the AI explained. "Or it may serve another purpose. I do not have the data to speculate further. However, it is clear that the Collectors are merely pawns. The technology and ability needed to create this Reaper is not their own."

Miranda and Jacob were staring, open mouthed at the massive abomination. The color had drained completely from Miranda. He had never seen her so utterly horrified. Jacob just kept whispering, "No way, no way!"

"It is likely that different species construct each Reaper," continued Edi's voice. "In this case, the Collectors provide the labor."

"The Collectors are just Protheans," exclaimed Shepard. "Why would they help the Reapers?"

"The Reapers subdued the Protheans long ago," Edi replied. "Probabilities suggest they attempted to create a Prothean Reaper and failed. Over time, they adapted the Protheans to suit their needs. Changed them; turned them into workers. Tools for the Reapers."

"They're building it to look like a human," Shepard observed. "Why?"

"It appears that a Reaper's shape is based upon the species used to create it." Edi's answer made sense, but it led him to ask Edi another question.

"Reapers are machines; why do they need humans at all?"

"Incorrect," came Edi's reply. "Reapers are sapient constructs, a hybrid of organic and nonorganic material. The exact construction methods are unclear, but it seems probable that Reapers absorb the essence of a species, utilizing it in their reproductive process."

"How many more humans do you think they'd try to take?"

"Millions," Edi responded darkly. "Possibly more. Impossible to know for certain. This Reaper appears to be in a very early stage of development, an embryo in Human terms."

Shepard had heard enough. It was sickening. He looked over and saw Miranda and Jacob transfixed upon the thing. The horror of it all was simply too much for them. Shepard had seen the absolute worst things sapient beings perpetrated upon one another, and had seen far too many things he wished he could forget. This was just another such thing for him. The time had come for them to put an end to it.

"It's too big for our guns. Edi, find me a way to blow this thing to hell!"

"The large tubes injecting the fluid are a weak structural link," Edi replied. "Destroying them should cause the supports to collapse and the Reaper to fall."

Just then, he heard the hum of an incoming platform. The sound seemed to jolt Miranda and Jacob from their trance, prompting them to draw their weapons.

"Give us a minute, Edi," said Shepard nonchalantly. "We've got to take care of some old friends first."

"Hostiles at one o'clock," he heard Miranda shout. This time, the platform docked a few feet below them, giving them an actual terrain advantage. Before they could exploit it to great effect, however, another platform docked on the other side, come in from their eleven o'clock. The trio made good use of the terrain, however, and proved that mobility and improvisation trumped numbers. Shepard occasionally took shots at the injection tubes in between killing Collectors, the tubes exploding in an orange mist.

Finally the hostiles were down to a manageable number and there was only one tube left. Miranda and Jacob saw it too, and fell in to give him cover as he unslung his sniper rifle. He fired, causing the final tube to explode in an orange mist, just as the others had. And just as Edi had predicted, the supports began to buckle, the sounds of metal scraping and twisting filling the cavern, and the groans of the creature sounding like a malevolent death cry. Finally, the supports gave way completely and the proto-Reaper fell, taking both platforms full of hostiles with it. He looked over the edge, and could not see the bottom of the chasm into which it fell. Nor did he hear a final impact. It was simply … gone. With that out of the way, it was time to do what they came here to do; overload the base and get the hell out.

"Shepard to ground team," he called over his com. "Status report!"

"It's Thane," came the assassin's voice. "We are holding, but they keep coming. A quick exit is preferable."

"Head to the Normandy," Shepard ordered. Then he switched channels and said, "Joker, prep the engines. I'm about to overload this place and blow it sky high."

"Roger that, Commander," replied Joker.

Miranda followed Shepard over to the control panel and stood by as he raised the reactor control module, calmly waiting for him to ask for the hack box equipped fusion bomb that would overload the reactor and create a nuclear detonation of its own. She marveled at the compactness of it; the bomb was more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb in a package the size of a baseball diamond. She looked at Jacob, who still stared out at the severed tubes still dripping what was left of all those people the Collectors had processed. She shuddered violently at the thought, nearly vomiting.

Then her eyes turned to the man who was about to blow the base up; the man who had defeated that … that thing. The man she loved. This was his second direct run in with the Reapers, and she wondered how he handled the enormity of it all. For her, it was overwhelming, but Shepard handled it like it was another day at the office. Of course, he was the hero of the Skillian Blitz and the savior of the Citadel; he had seen the enormity of what sapient beings could visit upon one another first hand many times. The thought about the experiments that Shepard had told her about; those Cerberus labs that he had shut down during his first run as a Spectre. The revelations that she had uncovered in her own investigating revealed that Cerberus was just as malevolent as any of them, at least at the leadership level, and that the Illusive Man would happily process people into bio-organic goo if he thought it would "advance the cause of Humanity." The thought made her ill. Something was seriously wrong with Cerberus, and it had happened after she had joined, of that she was certain. Then her thoughts seemed to create reality, as Joker's voice came over the com saying,

"Uh, Commander, I've got an incoming message from the Illusive Man. Edi's patching it through."

Miranda's omni-tool chimed with the incoming message alert, and she activated it, projecting the Illusive Man's image into their midst, her omni-tool giving him eyes and ears among them.

"Shepard, you've done the impossible," came the Illusive Man's voice, the holographic image speaking in time with the words. His voice was filled with admiration. Too bad it was all just a big manipulation. She wondered what his angle was. _Just like father_, she realized.

"Not finished here yet," came Shepard's growl as he continued setting the device. "This base is ten minutes from extinction." Miranda really liked the sound of that, but she was not surprised when the Illusive Man offered a new plan.

"Wait," said the hologram. "I have a better option." _Of course you do, you bastard_, she thought. He continued, and she could not believe the audacity of the man. "I'm looking at the schematics Edi uploaded. A timed radiation pulse would kill the remaining Collectors, but leave the machinery and technology intact." As he said that last part, Miranda finally saw it. The lust for power, undisguised, there in his eyes, face, and body language, He leaned forward, holding his fist up, like a predator about to devour his prey. "This is our chance Shepard," continued the hologram. "That knowledge, that framework – could save us."

"I came here to destroy it," she heard Shepard reply. He stood and turned to face the hologram. "But if you have another idea, I'm listening."

_Oh please, Shepard, don't fall for it_, she silently begged.

"We've won a single victory," the Illusive Man declared through the image. "But we're still at war. This base will give us the technology we need to fight the Reapers."

Shepard stood for a few moments. She watched him mulling over the proposal, just as she watched the Illusive Man practically chomping at the bit to goad Shepard into siding with him. She knew what the Illusive Man was like, but she had never seen him so … desperate. There was something … something in his eyes. Something … sinister. _God don't do it, Shepard_, she thought.

Finally, Shepard spoke, and his response lifted the tension and fear from her.

"There's no way I can trust you with this; you're totally ruthless," spat the Commander. "Next thing I know, you'll be trying to grow your own Reaper."

"My goal is to fight the Reapers and win. At any cost," countered the Illusive Man's image. "I've never hidden that from you. I brought you back because I saw the value in you. Some people would say we went too far, but look at all you've accomplished! Don't discard this base!"

"We'll fight and win without it," Shepard responded bluntly. "I won't let fear compromise who I am." He then went right back to setting the charges.

_Yes!_ Miranda was inwardly celebrating, jumping for joy, while to the outside world, she maintained her calm confidence. She had a feeling that she would finally be able to do what she had been planning ever since she discovered what Cerberus really was, and the Illusive Man did not disappoint.

"Miranda," the Illusive Man's image called, "don't let Shepard destroy this base!"

"Or what?" she asked smugly. "You'll replace me too?"

"Miranda," the Illusive Man growled, "I gave you an order."

"I noticed," she said. "Consider this my resignation."

Then she saw the panic in his eyes, and that's when she noticed it. His eyes were … artificial. She wondered how long they had been like that. Had they always been that way and she simply had ignored it? Or was it recent? It did not matter; the scales had fallen from her eyes. She knew Reaper tech when she saw it. He was indoctrinated. She wondered why she had not seen it before. Shepard then held his hand out to her, saying "Hack box." She handed it to him, a feeling of supreme satisfaction swelling up inside of her, as though her heart had just swelled. She wondered if this was how the Grinch felt in that old Christmas special.

The Illusive Man made one last impassioned plea to Shepard, saying, "Shepard, think about what's at stake! About everything Cerberus has done for you! You …" Miranda cut him off and shook her head. She could not believe how blindly she had once followed that man. But now, there was a new man in her life, and he was not the manipulative sort. Then that man stood, saying,

"Let's move. We've got ten minutes before the reactor overloads and blows this whole station apart." The control module sank back down into the floor, and the trio began moving, Shepard leading the way. That was when the Reaper attacked.

Shepard could not believe it. Yes, the legless upper torso of the Human proto-Reaper had clawed its way back up and they were now fighting for their lives against not only it, but wave after wave of Collector troops, each led by Harbinger's avatar, but he expected things like that; it almost seemed his lot in life. No, it was Miranda that had truly shocked him. He could not believe that she had quit and told the Illusive Man to essentially go screw himself. As he fought off another wave of Collectors, he could not hide his smile. She had left Cerberus for him! He felt light as a feather as he danced through the battlefield, effortlessly killing the Collectors and taking the occasional shot at the Reaper.

Miranda was in the path of a blast from the proto-Reaper, but Shepard deftly killed one of Harbinger's avatars and dove to shield her simultaneously. Time was running out, so he kissed his lover, and unslung the massive M-920 Cain canon. He felt his adrenaline surge, and time seemingly slowed down. He pulled the trigger and held it as the massive heavy canon charged. Miranda and Jacob provided him cover fire as he zeroed in on his target; it's right eye socket. Finally pulling the trigger, the mortar was fired with surprisingly mundane sounding 'thunk.' But the explosion that followed as the shell penetrated the creature's eye was stupendous.

The frontal portion of its skull blew apart on the right side, spraying gouts of orange liquid, flame, and sparks. It pitched back from the force, and he could hear metal wrenching and straining as the massive head flew back, fighting to come away from its moorings. He loaded another charge and fired, striking it under the jaw, severing the head from its body. The head and the torso both cascaded into the chasm, well and truly dead this time. Its massive hands, however, slapped the shelf of interlocking platforms, upsetting them, and causing the entire floor to shake and start coming apart. Shepard had won, but he saw Miranda sliding down the now hanging section of the floor, terror in her eyes as she could not stop her rapid descent. Shepard dove after her. There was no way he would win the day, only to lose Miranda.

Miranda felt the floor give way, and she found herself sliding down the now nearly vertical plane. She made the mistake of looking down and realized that she would be pitched into the chasm with the Human proto-Reaper. To have loved and won, only to die … it was unthinkable. She wanted to live. She clawed at the flooring, but could find no purchase. Concern gave way to fear, which gave way to panic. She was going to die.

"Miranda, grab on!" She heard Shepard's voice, but from where? Then she looked up, and there he was sliding down head first, his outstretched hand ready to grasp her own. She reached for him, but he was too far away, and the edge was fast approaching. She felt the tears in her eyes as she realized he would never make it to her in time. Then she felt the flooring give way and her body go into free fall. For just a moment, she was weightless. Then she began to fall. Then her arm wrenched as Shepard caught her. A sickening pop and the tearing of things never meant to be strained so hard echoed in her ears, and pain erupted in her now dislocated shoulder. But he had caught her. Unbelievably, he had caught her. And he had somehow found purchase and pulled her up, grabbing her left arm as soon as she could raise it.

"Oh my God it hurts!" she exclaimed, nearly blacking out from the pain.

"Don't worry; I've got you." His voice soothed her as he pulled her up and then put her over his back. "Hang on." She obeyed his command, wrapping her legs around his waist and her left arm around his neck. Thankfully, his armor would keep her from digging in and choking him. As he began to climb up, the station lurched violently, tossing them skyward. As they flew, she let go, and then she felt the hard impact of the floor. Then she blacked out.

Shepard was pinned under a massive chunk of the station's wall, but had managed to remain conscious, his hardsuit and shields protecting him from serious impact. The weight, however, was crushing. Finding his inner reserves, he pushed his back upward and stood, tossing the debris aside and frantically looking for Miranda and Jacob. Jacob was nearby, and he helped the man to his feet. Miranda was a little further off, pinned by another large section of wall. Shepard lifted it off of her, fearing that she might be dead, but she stirred as he tossed it aside. Miraculously, she began to sit up, seeming to have come through it without any further serious injury. Her right arm, however, still hung limply.

"Shepard," he heard her groan weakly. "Is it … over?"

"Not yet," he exclaimed. "Let's get out of here!"

He pulled her to her feet, and made a quick sling for her from the supplies in their first aid kit. Taking the pistol her left hand, she nodded, signaling her readiness to get moving.

"Are you alright?" He asked as they ran.

She nodded, but said, "It … hurts to talk."

"Don't talk then," he ordered. "Just stay alive!"

Then he heard Joker's voice crackle over his com.

"Commander! Do you copy Commander? Shepard, don't leave me hanging! Do you copy?"

"I'm here, Joker," Shepard replied as he and Miranda and Jacob began moving with urgency. "Did the ground team make it?"

"All survivors on board. We're just waiting for you."

He didn't like the sound of that; all survivors implied that some did not make it. But he could not think about that now. He got his lady and his friend moving fast as seeker swarms began chasing after them. Thankfully, their numbers were not dense enough to overwhelm Mordin's countermeasure. Then they all heard Harbinger spouting off at them as they ran.

"Human, you've changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction."

"Does … that bastard ever … shut up?" Miranda gasped out the rhetorical question, but Shepard just kept shooting, as now Collector troops were now shooting at them. He made sure that Miranda was safe, leading them to the exit from the base. As they neared the edge, they saw the Normandy appear in the distance, Joker in the open airlock laying down suppressing fire. Shepard motioned for Miranda to go first, as she was the most seriously injured, and then Jacob. Both made it aboard, jumping the few feet between the ledge and the airlock. Then the base shuddered and the ledge collapsed, leaving a massive chasm between the edge of the base and the Normandy. Shepard ran with all of his might, jumping the distance, reaching up with his left hand and hooking the airlock's edge. Garrus joined Joker at the door, pulling Shepard up and then firing into the Collectors. The door closed as the Normandy got moving.

"Detonation in ten, nine, eight," Edi was counting down, but Joker cut her off, saying,

"We get the gist of it, Edi. Hold on!" Joker jumped into his seat, and Shepard took the seat next to him. "Miranda's in the medbay," Joker added just as the ship jumped to FTL. Faster than light, the Normandy sped away, and they felt the shockwave of the base's explosion right before hitting the Omega-4 Relay. Before the ship was damaged, the Normandy was back in the Sahrabarik system in the Omega Nebula, the Omega-4 Relay in their rearview.

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over.


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Shepard stepped into the debriefing room for one final chat with the Illusive Man. He picked up a fallen piece from the ceiling and set it aside. Had walked through the CIC, and while it too had sustained damage, he was pleased and relieved to see all of the old familiar faces back at their posts. The crew that had once seemed lost had been rescued, and like the mission to Ilos, Shepard and his crew were again mutineers. Of course, going to Ilos, they had to hijack the ship before the mission in order to have any hope of stopping Saren. Now, it was after the mission, and both Shepard and the entire crew, his team included, were all ready to say goodbye to the Illusive Man and to Cerberus.

He activated the QEC, and sure enough, the Illusive Man's image materialized before him. And the man did not look happy. Glaring, the Illusive Man extinguished his cigar and immediately got to lecturing.

"Shepard, you're making a habit of costing me more than time and money."

"I know what you are," countered Shepard.

"Your ideals have cost us more than you can imagine!" The Illusive Man raged, but it was like waves crashing against cliffs. "The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy. Against the Reapers and beyond!"

"Human dominance?" asked Shepard, unconvinced, "Or just Cerberus."

The Illusive Man stood, leaving his chair and walking right up to Shepard's image. If he had only had the guts to get this close to Shepard, Shepard would have punched his lights out.

"Strength for Cerberus is strength for every Human," raged the Cerberus leader. "Cerberus is Humanity! I should have known you'd choke on the hard decisions; too idealistic from the start."

"I know what you are," countered Shepard. "And the cost of dealing with you! We do things my way from now on. Harbinger is coming. And he won't be alone. I'm going to make sure we're ready when they get here. You can fall in line or step aside." Shepard made a grand sweeping gesture with his right hand, and finished saying, "But don't get in my way."

"You're sure that's what you want? You're taking a hell of a risk Shepard!"

Shepard realized that it was not rage in the Illusive Man's voice, but panic. He was losing control, and he knew it. And Shepard was a foe who gave even the Illusive Man pause. As close as he was to the camera, Shepard could see his eyes clearly. They were … Reaper tech! _He's indoctrinated!_

"I don't think so," replied Shepard. "I'm going to stop the Reapers, but I won't sacrifice the soul of our species to do it."

With that, he stepped out of the QEC field and shut off the communicator. This conversation was over. He still wore his armor, and it was high time that he get himself out of it. He had aches on top of aches, but nothing that some rest would not take care of. Rest, and a hot shower. And Miranda. It was a miracle that she had survived. Even more amazing, they had recovered the entire crew complement and the entire team had made it back alive, no casualties. He looked skyward, or at least ceiling-ward, and said, "Thanks!"

Miranda awoke in the medbay, her arm back in its socket and medigel infusions healing her torn ligaments. It still hurt, but not nearly so much as it had. She felt something on her head. Realizing that it was a device for dealing with head injuries and concussions, she now knew that she must have suffered a concussion.

"Miranda Lawson." She heard Doctor Chakwas' English accented voice say her name. "You and Shepard … the whole team … you saved us."

Miranda sat up as the doctor came over to attend to her, removing the device from her head and checking the readings.

"You look fit, though probably not for duty in the field," the doctor declared. Before Miranda could answer, Chakwas put down the equipment and hugged her. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Doctor," came Shepard's voice. "You saved her." Miranda looked up to see Shepard wearing the black uniform he had worn for Kasumi's heist. It fit him well, showing off his physique without being tight. She felt herself blush as she looked at him, but did not look away self-consciously; those days were gone.

"Shepard!" Miranda tried to get up, but felt dizzy and quickly stopped.

"Commander," said the doctor in a low, almost reverent voice. "You and Jeff came for us so quickly. I have never had truer friends."

"How are you feeling, Doc?" Shepard asked, taking Miranda's hand as he spoke. Miranda just held onto him, remaining silent. She had Shepard; nothing else mattered now.

"I can never unsee what we saw, but I am fine otherwise," pronounced the Doctor. "No lasting injuries to any of us, in fact. Even Miranda will be back to her old self soon enough. But Miranda knew better.

"My old self is gone," Miranda declared emphatically. "Shepard, you've changed me. Or maybe you just helped me to find out who I truly was. Either way, I am not the same person I was. And thank God, I never will be that person again. For the first time, I like my life. I like who I am. No doubts, no fears. And I have you to thank for that, Shepard."

"Miranda," he replied, encircling her in his arms as he sat down with her, "you brought me back from the brink of death. Or perhaps from even further than that! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And I have _you_ to thank for that. And I have never felt so loved as I did when we were together before we went through the Omega-4 Relay."

She felt a bright blush spreading across her cheeks, but again, she did not turn away. Instead, she kissed him passionately. No more words were necessary; she finally understood what it meant when people said that they were 'in sync' with their partner. She and Shepard had developed a very deep emotional bond, one that would only grow stronger the longer they were together. When she took this mission on, it had been to save Humanity. But romance had unfolded between she and Shepard, and her once frozen heart had thawed. Her passion now burned hot within her, something she had never experienced with any partner. And save Humanity they did. Just as they were meant to: together.

**The End … **

**But not the finale! The love story of Shepard and Miranda continues in Mass Effect: Normandy Christmas!**


End file.
